No Man's River

by Farley Mowat

With No Man's River , Farley Mowat has penned his best Arctic tale in years. This book chronicles his life among Metis trappers and native people as they struggle to eke out a living in a brutal environment. In the spring of 1947, putting the death and devastation of WWII behind him, Mowat joined a scientific expedition. In the remote reaches of Manitoba, he witnessed an Eskimo population ravaged by starvation and disease brought about by the white man. In his efforts to provide the natives with some of the assistance that the government failed to provide, Mowat set out on an arduous journey that collided with one of nature's most arresting phenomena -- the migration of the Arctic's caribou herds. Mowat was based at Windy Post with a Metis trapper and two Ihalmiut children. A young girl, known as Rita, is painted with special vividness -- checking the trap lines with the men, riding atop a sled, smoking a tiny pipe. Farley returns to the North two decades later and discovers the tragic fate that befell her. Combining his exquisite portraits with awe-inspiring passages on the power of nature, No Man's River is another riveting memoir from one of North America's most beloved writers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Memoir, Canada, Biography, Adventure, Native American

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2004

About the author

Farley McGill Mowat was a conservationist and one of Canada's most widely-read authors.

Many of his most popular works have been memoirs of his childhood, his war service, and his work as a naturalist. His works have been translated into 52 languages and he has sold more than 14 million books.

Mowat studied biology at the University of Toronto. During a field trip to the Arctic, Mowat became outraged at the plight of the Ihalmiut, a Caribou Inuit band, which he attributed to misunderstanding by whites. His outrage led him to publish his first novel, People of the Deer (1952). This book made Mowat into a literary celebrity and was largely responsible for the shift in the Canadian government's Inuit policy: the government began shipping meat and dry goods to a people they previously denied existed.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship RV Farley Mowat was named in honour of him, and he frequently visited it to assist its mission.

Reviews

[Perri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is essentially an evocative journal of time and place. Mowat describes his travels in upper Manitoba , mostly untouched by modern civilization. Sometimes the beauty he portrays brought a lump to my throat, then he would describe the mosquito frenzies making my skin crawl. His passion for nature shines through. Mowat and his trapper friend traverse perilous rapids that I could read from the comfort of my home. Written in the 1940s, it was hard to read about the blatant discrimination against the indigenous people and the upcoming destruction of massive caribou migration. As befitting a journal, some parts were slow, just as they are in real life. Not my favorite Mowat, but I want to read more.

[JennieWithTheBooks☮️(◕‿◕✿) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I saw what appeared to be an undulating brown river flowing across the snow-covered roadbed ahead of us. ”C'est la Foule!” cried the train’s French-Canadian brakeman, who had climbed up beside me. La Foule - the Throng - was the name coined by early French explorers to describe one of the most IMPRESSIVE SPECTACLES on Earth, the mass migration of the barrenground caribou. We remained stationary for nearly two hours while the living river flowed unhurriedly across our path. That initial meeting with the deer (as Caribou are universally known throughout the north) was to become a determining influence in my life.”
(Mowat pg3)

…and with that simple paragraph, I knew I was going to enjoy this book TREMENDOUSLY.

It’s a priceless look into a world that is probably gone forever, sadly. Now that I'm finished reading the book, I have such a better appreciation of a truly Canadian way of life that has been all but lost. I write this review from this newly found appreciation whilst sitting in my warm and cozy home, with my feet up in my comfy recliner, with a bowl of hot and steamy soup to fill my belly. Food, which I did not have to hunt for.

I rarely put the book down in the last 3-4 days. It was such a well-written insight, into a world that none of us will ever get to experience. What a great STORYTELLER! The first person adventure had me swatting at all those imaginary swarms of mosquitoes around me, and checking for deer flies on my bare arms and legs, and why did I have the constant urge to scratch all over when reading about the fleas and lice.

The book is a great homage to the Inuits, the forgotten people, the people of the deer. Mowat's words bring together so much imagery, including the land itself, unrelentingly gorgeous and harsh, proving yet again and again, just how puny we humans are and how powerless too. The weather alone makes all human efforts seem like mere good luck. The native people are heartbreaking. The animals are kindred spirits just trying to survive on a land that shows little to no mercy.

The role played by so-called “civilization”, well, nothing shows up modern man's shortcomings better than a famine. Mowat’s trip North took place immediately after a terrible winter, where the native people had starved and were still starving and then they had been decimated by INFLUENZA. This particular part of the story brought the reality of 2020 back into clear focus where COVID-19 is concerned. WE'VE COME SO FAR SINCE 1947 BUT NOT NEARLY FAR ENOUGH IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO ERADICATE THE DEATH TOLL FROM VIRUSES.
And really, do all Indeginous people nowadays,the ones living in more remote areas, even have the same access to medicines as the rest of us do? It's a shame to say, I don't think they do.

Mowat’s respect for native culture and his skill at describing their environment is what made this book so enjoyable for me. I plan to read more of his works if this is his constant style of writing. Well worth my time and effort, I thought.

I now return MY BOOK to its proper place on its shelf, being left with the ideal that IT was a very deep and EARTHY toned book with a FIERCE REVERENCE for all things WILD.
WELL DONE MR. MOWAT. WELL DONE. 4⭐⭐⭐⭐'s on this one from me.

[Peter]

While I doubt Mowat is letting too many facts get in the way of the story, he tells a gripping tale of the Canadian North. One that was disappearing as he was experiencing it. I couldn’t put it down. It sucked me in.

[Susan M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get into this book but the more I read the more I wanted to keep reading. Tales of a difficult life in the Canadian wilderness. None of todays essentials assured including food. I especially liked the latter sections of the book where it was unclear whether men or the river would prevail. Well written.

[Jenn Schweder · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story has everything you might expect from Farley Mowat - adventure, drama, desperate isolation and a healthy dose of BS. There are family dynamics at play in this story that could only exist in Canada. The book would almost be impressive; but it should have been left alone in its original iteration as "The People of the Deer," because this "non-fiction" rewrite is still too far from the truth to deserve being labelled as such.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this book I feel incredibly grateful for a heated home, warm clothes and food that I don't have to hunt or fish to get. Farley goes on a scientific expedition with a partner and then ends up having his own adventure. It was hard to put this book down.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worthy of reading once.

[Chana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not enjoy this story of Farley's adventures in the arctic because I was too disturbed by the story of the Eskimo child Kunee/Rita.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Man’s River by Farley Mowatt (Carroll & Graf Publishers 2004) (917.1271) (4094).

I’m a long-time Farley Mowat fan, but let’s face it: this story has serious issues when viewed through twenty-first century sensibilities.

This is an account of the author’s 1947 peregrinations by canoe and dogsled in northern Canada with the native Metis tribespeople. The tale is filled with intriguing stories of day-to-day survival near the Arctic by a people who depend for survival on “La Foule,” which is the annual migration of millions of caribou. It is a fine Farley Mowat story of adventure travel. The problem is that the book has an underlying subplot which constitutes a horrific tale of what we twenty-first century Westerners rightly consider child abuse.

The issue arises from the traditional and historical (according to the author) Metis tribal practice of deeming young women - girls, actually - to be fully grown and marriage-eligible at less than ten years of age. Indeed, one of the principal characters in this saga is a four-or five year old girl known as “Rita” who, as it turns out, is the source of great conflict between a pair of teenaged Metis brothers who become the author’s travelling companions in this story. As events unfold, readers eventually come to realize the unthinkable: that each brother intends to make the toddler Rita his own wife.

As Mowat tells the story, he (Mowat) believed Rita to be the daughter of the elder of the two brothers, who was named Charles. Mowat understood that Rita’s mother had died and that the child had come to live with her surviving parent (Charles). In Mowat’s telling, he originally assumed that the child was Charles’ daughter based on the fact that the five year old child shared a bed each night with “her father.” But by the end of the tale, the author’s hints make it clear to the reader that sex is at the very least a component of the child’s relationship with the two teenaged brothers. (Although never revealed by the author, readers can only hope that neither of the brothers was her father).

The travel tale is a gripping adventure, but the subplot is so disturbing that readers might skip this one.

I purchased a used PB copy in good condition 6/01/2025 from McKay’s for $3.00.

My rating: 7/10, finished 10/21/25 (4094).

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP.

[Aubrey Rudy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm gonna copy my Amazon review.

I have always loved Farley Mowat. He spins a great yarn, he's self-effacing, he's funny, and he's compassionate. What I NEVER noticed was any sympathy to pedophiles, which is what LEAPT out at me in this book. Page 225: "I am falling for Rita. She is a miracle of vivacity and charm, imbued with a scintillating sense of humor. ALTHOUGH ONLY SIX, she has the aplomb and self-confidence of a woman of the world, and the panache of a lady of society. I CAN UNDERSTAND IF CHARLES IS IN LOVE WITH HER." Keep in mind that at this point Mowat believes Charles IS RITA'S FATHER AND IS RAISING HER AS TO BE HIS WIFE, AND HE IS A-OKAY WITH THAT.

To H*** with sympathy for other cultures; this was absolutely nauseating. Thank God for Charles' brother having that poor child taken by the authorities. Although he's painted as the racist villain, he's the most sympathetic person in the end. Whatever happened to that girl, it's better than being raised as a sex slave. Holy God, I had no idea he could ever say anything like this.

[Mark Geisthardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mowat has written extensively about his time and adventures in the High Arctic of Canada. This book tells the story of his journey with his friend Charlie Schweder down an uncharted, unmapped river which they knew of and they knew where it led, Hudson Bay, but which they knew little more of. At the same time he also tells about, as he does in all the books he has written about the High Arctic, the Inuit people who have lived there for thousands of years and the struggles they have had to live in this harsh place, struggles which were made much worse with the arrival of Europeans into their lands.

[Susan Kruger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Mowat's books. I liked this one. It is sometimes amazing to me what happens in the world that no one notices. Who, in the post war world, ever thought or cared about the plight of the eskimos in Canada? The only reason we know is because there was an observer, who chose to tell a story. The life of a trapper back then was filled with ordinary adventure and what an incredible adventure Charlie and Farley had. I'm glad he wrote this book. It makes me wonder how things have changed.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Farley Mowat encountering the Barrenlands by canoe and with his companion, Charles Schweder, running the big rapids (in a canoe, no less, loaded most of the time with hundreds of pounds of gear) of unknown rivers in the arctic north makes for great reading. You now can experience his trip with upscale adventure travel companies. His concern for the Ilhalmiut people is the subject for other books of his; this one is his amazing introduction in their lives and plight. Fantastic read.

[Jacqueline Bussjaeger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good adventure story, cinematic descriptions, but it bothered me throughout that Mowat seems to be putting himself in a light that seems suspiciously good. Upon researching him I learned of his tendency to stretch the facts, which unfortunately colored my entire reading. Still, a wonderful portrait of the wilderness of the remote north.

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mowat is the doyen of arctic adventures and this is a magical, mesmerizing tale of the Canadian North/Barrenlands. A number of the places and people mentioned also show up in Lost in the Barrens. It made me long to visit the Arctic.

[David Wasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an "epic Journey" book. His descriptions of the lands of northern Canada are breath taking. He also does a good job of telling the plight of the Native people.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exceptional writing, but dark and bleak material. I would be interested in reading something else from Mowat.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book, but showed that not much has changed between the Federal Government and Indigenous peoples since 1947

[Alex C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this after watching a YouTube video from John of Lost Lakes. He had been reading it while travelling around Nueltin Lake with his wife. Watching his video and the links he made back to the book which describes the area and the wildlife amongst it, made me want to read the book.
It is interesting hearing what life in the barrenlands is like and the harsh reality of this place so many years ago. Unfortunately there are some really tragic and brutal stories of certain natives. I probably won't read it again for that reason, but I really appreciated learning about the area and wildlife and ways of surviving from Mowats experience of the area.
It must be amazing to see 1000's of Caribou in your immediate vicinity.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, in addition to being a well-written tale of adventure, also provided me with a vivid mental picture of the landscape, indigenous people, and wildlife of northern Canada, where the boreal forests of Manitoba transition into the barren lands of what is now the federal province of Nunavut. Author Farley Mowat had witnessed the caribou migration from a train as a child and, following his traumatic military service in World War II, yearned to get away from "civilization" and see this phenomenon again. He was also curious about the mysterious inland Inuit of which he had heard in the meantime. So he signed on as an assistant to naturalist Dr. Francis Harper to study and collect specimens in Canada's north.

They traveled north to Churchill on Hudson Bay without definite plans. There they met German Canadian fur trapper Charles Schweder, who offered them the use of his outpost for the winter. They took him up on the offer and were flown to the Windy Outpost near the north end of Nueltin Lake and started setting up for their winter research, much to the surprise of Schweder's children living in the small cabin. From the beginning of their stay there, this was a tale of personal tensions. Schweder, who had taken an Ihalmiut woman as his wife and fathered four children, was an outspoken racist and this attitude was passed down to his son Fred. Son Charlie, however, had maintained ties with his mother's people and was intimately involved with one of their young women. Enter Dr. Harper, who, while taking over their household, does not miss an opportunity to voice his condemnation of the native peoples and their ways.

A friendship develops between Mowat and Charlie, and once a final falling-out occurs with Dr. Harper, Mowat is free to join Charlie in his expeditions, at which point the book turns into an adventure tale of survival and exploration. Their first trip is to Brochet on Reindeer Lake by a route with which Charlie is familiar. Then, on impulse, they decide to canoe down the "Big River" (Thlewiaza River) from the north end of Nueltin Lake to Hudson Bay. Of this river Charlie recalls hearing only vague warnings, and so for them - and me - this trip makes for an exciting conclusion to the book.

This 2004 book is the author's retelling of the same adventure described in his 1955 book, The Deer People, which marked the start of his career as a well-respected writer concerning the northern Canadian landscape and its First Nation peoples.

[mikeyO · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it and will definitely be reading more of Mowat's work. If you're a fan of Jim Harrison, Jon Krakauer, or Tobias Wolff, then you'll dig Mowat. This novel has a very deep and earthy tone with a fierce reverence for all things wild.
In a nutshell, a Canadian man returns somewhat shell-shocked from WWII and seeks to escape the horrors of civilization by plunging deep into the remote northernmost reaches of Manitoba. He joins a two-man scientific expedition as a means to get into the north but soon falls into company with a hard-core fur trapping family and learns what toughing it is all about. Entranced by the land, the animals, and the native people he convinces one of the brothers to undertake some harrowing journeys deeper into the wild via canoe and barely survives the ordeal.
Given the limited technology that was available in the late-forties, coupled with their insanely remote location, it blew me away how skilled and tenacious these people had to be to survive up there year in and year out.
I will read this again for sure.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read No Man’s River as one of several books about canoeing in northern Canada when a friend spent a month paddling the Coppermine River. I have read a number of books by Farley Mowat, including And No Birds Sang, his story about serving in Europe during World War II. No Man’s River is his story of returning to Canada and trying to find meaning in life after the war. It is written in Mowat’s easy-to-read style, but like others of his books, not really an easy book. He sees and internally agonizes over the poverty of the native peoples and aches at what he sees as the end of their way of life. He lives close to the edge and takes chances that make it a marvel that he survived. He sees his friends make choices that put them on untenable, destructive paths.
The book can be read as an adventure or it can be read as a condemnation of war and the effect of war on the human soul.

[Stephen Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

After joining a scientific expedition to the western shores of Hudson's Bay in 1947, Mowat spends the next several years in the area, boating on its many rivers, hunting and trapping, arranging supplies to be delivered by airplane, camping and getting to know and live with the native peoples in the area. His account of his time spent there, amongst people who lived on the land by the seasons without clocks or calendars who travelled everywhere on foot or by canoe and of the many canoe trips on rivers going through many rapids was at times riveting and at others enchanting but always enjoyable.

[Primrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous, visual, well-told story that draws the reader in. Rich, visual descriptions of the dangerous beauty of travelling by canoe (and other means) over the mostly uncharted territory of Canada's Barrenlands in the 1920s. The friendship between the two travellers is complex and caught up in connections with the land and the people who live there.

[Luce Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all of Mowat's writings, a fantastic read. This is a very personal account of adventures in Canada's North, and of a friendship with an Inuit man. A tale told with heart, it takes over the reader's heart and vividly delivers a different , often brutal, reality . What a great writer we have in Farley Mowat. Without compare.

[Farrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought there were some more boring stretches that really got into the details of long river trips, etc. But overall I found this book to be an interesting look at Eskimo life in the 1940's and wilderness adventuring.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mowat. Love his style. This one stays with me.

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and heartbreaking... much the same of a lot of Farley Mowat's books.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting historically, although in some ways a bit repetitive. For a current Mowat book, I was expecting more pizzazz.

[Roy]

Every book by Farley Mowat is well worth reading .