Canoeing a Continent: On the Trail of Alexander Mackenzie

Anthony MacKenzie is an associate professor of history at St. Francis
Xavier University.

In the introduction, Kirk Wipper (himself a canoeist of some note)
describes Canoeing a Continent as a “source of inspiration, especially
for Canadians. It is not only a tribute to Alexander Mackenzie but … a
stirring reference to the lives of those who traveled the same waterways
for untold centuries before [the Aboriginals].” The book is also a
call to reverse the deteriorating condition of our water resources.

The author set out to cover the water trails used by Mackenzie,
Thompson, Peter Pond, and the voyageurs who crossed Canada in search of
furs. Unlike the travelers of two centuries ago, Finkelstein had the
luxury of time to fish. He found the angling surprisingly good in many
places in spite of dams and pollution. Accompanied by a friend, he
paddled Kevlar canoes up a section of the Fraser River, down the
Blackwater and Churchill rivers, and on the treacherous windswept
expanses of lakes Superior and Winnipeg.

Only once did the author encounter any hostility: when they learned
that he works for National Parks, townspeople on the Lake Superior shore
expressed their distaste for government regulation and land management.
That encounter aside, people were friendly and helpful; even the few
bears he met were civil.

The clear-cutting of trees and the damming and poisoning of streams are
among the things that bring out the philosopher in our canoe man (“our
culture is eating up the beauty and richness of the world, transforming
it into commodities that we can eat, live in, sit on or otherwise
use”). Philosophy aside, Finkelstein gives a vivid description of the
enormously varied water and landforms he encountered, along with a
13-page appendix of useful suggestions for canoe trippers. He was
remarkably free from injury or illness on his journeys, treating an
infected finger with Mackenzie’s remedy (balsam pitch) after surgery
failed to fix it.

The book includes detailed recipes for bannock (the woodsman’s bread)
and illustrations that are too small and too focused on the author.
Full-page illustrations of places and people would have been more
effective.