Explore the real-world places that appear in The Land of Feast and Famine by Helge Ingstad. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Edmonton, Fort Smith, Wood Buffalo Country, Hay River, Fort Providence and 7 more.
Alberta Legislature area — the jumping-off point for the North
Edmonton is the last real city before the wilderness for Ingstad, who arrives from Norway to become a trapper. Here he gathers traps, grub and gear and takes the northbound route toward the Mackenzie waterways. The comfort of the city sets up the sharp contrast with the 'feast and famine' life that follows.
Edmonton grew as a Hudson's Bay Company fur post and became the main supply and rail hub for the Canadian North in the early 20th century. Outfitters there equipped prospectors, trappers and traders heading to the Athabasca and Mackenzie country.
Edmonton is the capital of Alberta, and the Legislature grounds are a public landmark. The city still calls itself the Gateway to the North.
Visit: Alberta Legislature Building (landmark)
Slave River — Portage hub on the Alberta–NWT border
Fort Smith is a key waypoint on the Slave River route north, where travelers portage around the rapids. Ingstad uses it as a place to meet Indigenous and white trappers and to take on news and supplies. It is a node in the network of people and trails that carry him into the Great Slave Lake country.
Fort Smith developed around the portage that bypassed the rapids of the Slave River and became an administrative center for the Northwest Territories. It served as the territorial capital for decades in the 20th century.
The town is the gateway to Wood Buffalo National Park. The Northern Life Museum tells of the fur trade, Indigenous history and northern settlement.
Visit: Northern Life Museum (museum)
Wood Buffalo National Park — wildlife of the boreal north
The boreal forests and meadows south of Great Slave Lake are the kind of country where Ingstad learns the habits of beaver, wolf and other game. Hunting and trapping in this region teaches him the rhythm of plenty and scarcity that gives the book its title.
Wood Buffalo National Park was established in 1922 to protect the last large herds of wood bison. It became Canada's largest national park.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with bison, wolves, and the Whooping Crane nesting grounds, and visitors can hike and take guided tours.
Visit: Wood Buffalo National Park (park)
South shore of Great Slave Lake — river and lake transport
Hay River sits on the southern shore of Great Slave Lake, a stop for travelers working along the Mackenzie system. Ingstad's journeys through the lake country bring him past such settlements, where trappers trade and swap stories.
Hay River began as a mission and fur trade site, and grew as a transportation hub for river barges and lake fishing.
It is a town of about 3,000 people and a major transportation center for the NWT, with a busy harbor.
Mackenzie River — Dene community at the lake's outlet
Along the Mackenzie, trading and mission settlements like Fort Providence connect the trapper's isolated life to the wider world. Ingstad's account of Dene companions and the fur economy reflects this community's role on the water route north.
Fort Providence was founded as a Catholic mission and trading post in the 19th century, near the Mackenzie River's exit from Great Slave Lake.
It is a Dene community with a ferry or ice bridge across the Mackenzie on Highway 3.
Great Slave Lake south shore — old Hudson's Bay Company post
Fort Resolution is one of the old trading posts on Great Slave Lake where trappers sell furs and buy provisions. For Ingstad, such posts are where the cycle of feast and famine meets the cash economy, and where Chipewyan hunters share news and stories.
The post was established in the early 1800s and was among the oldest on Great Slave Lake, a center of the fur trade on the Slave River delta.
It is a small Indigenous community with Deninu Kųę́ First Nation as its center.
North Arm of Great Slave Lake — Tłı̨chǫ community
The north arm of Great Slave Lake lies on the way to the caribou and trapping grounds. Ingstad's accounts of Indigenous hunters and their knowledge of caribou migrations reflect the Dogrib people who traded at posts like Fort Rae.
Fort Rae was established as a Hudson's Bay Company post in the 19th century and became the largest Tłı̨chǫ community.
Behchokǫ̀ is the largest Tłı̨chǫ community and sits just north of Yellowknife.
North shore of Great Slave Lake — later capital of the NWT
The north shore of Great Slave Lake was nearly empty in Ingstad's day, traveled by trappers, prospectors and Dene hunters. His time in this country shows the North before gold mining turned the bay into a city.
Yellowknife was founded in 1934 after the discovery of gold and became the capital of the NWT in 1967.
The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre holds exhibits on Dene, Inuit and settler history of the territory.
Visit: Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (museum)
East Arm of Great Slave Lake — gateway to the Barren Lands
Fort Reliance, at the eastern end of Great Slave Lake, is the departure point for trips into the Barren Lands. Ingstad and his companions use this edge of the forest as a base before pushing toward caribou country and the starvation risks of the open tundra.
The site was used by explorer George Back in 1833–34, and later by traders and the RCMP as a northern outpost.
The site is remote and mostly abandoned, reachable only by boat or aircraft.
East Arm of Great Slave Lake — Chipewyan Dene community
Lutselk'e, called Snowdrift in Ingstad's time, is home to Chipewyan Dene hunters who follow the caribou. Ingstad learns bush skills and hunting lore from such native companions, and their knowledge of the land shapes his understanding of survival in the North.
The community grew in the 20th century as Dene people from the barrens settled near a trading post on the East Arm.
Lutselk'e is a Dene community of about 300 people and the access point for Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve.
Treeline country — caribou crossing and wintering ground
Artillery Lake lies at the treeline, where the forest gives way to the Barren Lands. Ingstad describes hunting caribou here, living through times of plenty and times of hunger, and meeting the wolves and wildlife that define the northern ecosystem.
The lake was named by Captain George Back during his 1834 Arctic land expedition. It lies along a traditional caribou migration route used by Dene hunters.
It lies within Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve and is visited by canoeists and wilderness travelers.
Barren Lands — deep in the tundra beyond the treeline
Further out on the tundra, Aylmer Lake represents the true Land of Feast and Famine, where caribou herds may offer abundance or fail to appear. Ingstad's accounts of the open barrens highlight the isolation, cold and constant dependence on game.
The lake is part of the Back River and Lockhart River drainage and was named in the 19th century during Arctic exploration.
It is remote tundra country, visited mainly by canoe expeditions and fly-in anglers.
More by Helge Ingstad: All Helge Ingstad books