Welcome to Boreal Books!

Welcome to our online catalogue of books, maps, northern art, music and native crafts - pretty much what you would find in the store if you come to visit us. Our book collection includes many hard to find or out of print Northern titles, but if you don't see what you're looking for, ask for us to order it for you. We're pretty good at finding what you want. The art and crafts are bought directly from the people who make them here in the Western Arctic. If you won't be making the trip to the Arctic any time soon, please feel free to contact us either by email or phone and we will be happy to help you with making your purchase from a distance using PayPal and Canada Post.

Our store is located at 75 Mackenzie Road (Main Street) in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. Inuvik is located just North of the Arctic Circle and just south of the Beaufort Sea in Canada's Western Arctic. We're at the end of the Dempster Highway and at the entrance to the now famous Mackenzie River Ice Road. You can visit Inuvik by road for about 10 months in the year or by air via Yellowknife or Whitehorse at any time.

Fall in the Arctic is wonderful! We've been having lovely long days with only a few days of rain so far. Berry picking has been great this year - with cloudberries, blueberries, crowberries and cranberries.

Anglican Cemetary at Fort McPherson

 

Updated on our website

We update our website regularly, so keep coming back to see new inventory and new events. Most recent update - September 2012 - we updated our Qiviut & Knitting page and are updating our inventory of gifts and crafts. We always have new inventory photos to post, but if you would like to see a photo before we get it posted, just drop us a line and we will get a photo to you. We have also started pulling together artist bios - keep coming back as we make regular changes and updates to the website.

 

        

 

New in the store

We have many new books, carvings and jewellry so be sure to come by and check it all out. We update the inventory list regularly and will add new photos as new items come into the store.

 

Arctic Qiviut - Hand Painted in 28 different colour choices!

Wouldn't you like to make your own distinctly Northern souvenir? Now you can experience the warmth and beauty of your own qiviut garment made by your very own hands. Five different blends available in all colour ranges - if we don't have the colour choice you would like in the store, we can custom order the blend of your choice in your favourite colour (allow 6-8 weeks for custom orders). If you would prefer 100% qiviut, it is also available in a number

Qiviut is eight times warmer than sheep's wool. 100% qiviut is non-shrinkable, non-feling and safe for people who suffer from wool allergies. Unlike wool, qiviut is not scratchy - the more you handle and wash qiviut, the softer it feels.

 

And to go with the yarn - Handmade Wooden Knitting Needles from Indian Lake Artisans.

Available in Birch, Cherry & Walnut - each needle size has it's own burnished copper top. You'll want to collect the full set, or purchase a scarf pin to wear with your favourite qiviut scarf!

Note Cards by Mark Preston

       

With a dozen images to choose from, you can either use these as notecards, or frame the images as an inexpensive way to remember your trip to the Arctic. Larger 5x7 digital prints are also available.

 

Medical Adventures in the Arctic - written by Lianne Lacroix, MD. Read about her adventures working as a doctor at the Inuvik Hospital in the 1970's and how she met and worked with Angelo Stefano before he was arrested and deported to Italy for pracitising without a license in 1976.

Bren Kolson is a Métis author and poet born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories of Tso’Tine and Polish descent. Bren writes books, short stories, essays, poetry, and prose and enjoys photography. She lives in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories with her daughter.

Myth of the Barrens is a diary format book in five genres about living and surviving the barrenlands of northern Canada in the mid to late 1970s. The experiences and adventures take place past Yellowknife and past the east arm of Great Slave Lake at the mouth of the Mary Francis River with a Dene Elder (Louison Drybones) and non-Aboriginal man (Richard Black) who were hunting, trapping and fishing on the land in pursuit of subsistence and survival.

 

Marking the debut of Leo Desroches, one of the most unusual amateur detectives ever to appear in Canada or points south, this fast-paced, enthralling mystery is the story of a man who had everything, lost it all, and is trying to get it back. Leo Desroches was living on the streets after a gambling addiction cost him his family and career as a journalist. Then he got a second chance: During a newspaper strike he was hired as a reporter, and he decided to get his life back on track. When he covers the sordid murder of a young Native woman, he thinks it’s just another assignment until his article starts a chain of events that leads to a much bigger story: a conspiracy that could bring down the entire police department…or get him killed.

My Heart Shook Like A Drum by Alice Blondin-Perrin

This one is a must-read if you want to know more about the residential school experience. Our order was a bit delayed by the recent postal strike/lockout, but we have it on the way and hope to see it soon!

From first-time novelist AmberLee Kolson comes a wise, gently humorous, and deeply compassionate novel about a woman whose efforts to recover the moments of a stolen life leads her on an unexpected journey with a result even she couldn’t predict.
We all know this woman. There is a little bit of her in each one of us.

Of Chipewyan and Polish descent, AmberLee Kolson was born and raised in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She is a graduate of both the University of Alberta and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. AmberLee's one- act play, Snow Angel, won the B.C. National Playwriting Competition.

NEW IN OUR MUSIC SECTION

Allan Benjamin has a new CD in our store. Great fiddle music from Old Crow.

From the Headline Concert of the Great Northern Arts Festival:

Laura Vinson & Free Spirit

 

Dale Ladouceur

 

Maria Dunn

If you had a great time at the concert, or if you couldn't make it, I highly recommend these talented artists!

 

 

ON ORDER - WATCH FOR IT!!

Dr. Ian Stirling, the best known polar bear scientist in the world, compresses the major new discoveries of the last 40 years of research on this iconic Arctic mammal into a major new, easily readable, and scientifically comprehensive book about the ecology and natural history of polar bears. In an accessible non-technical style, he explains how polar bears evolved, how researchers study them, aspects of their behaviour, how they prey and live on various marine mammals for their very survival, how the seals and bears have evolved in response to each other, and how, specifically, they have come to threatened by climate warming. In a separate chapter, he explains why the polar bears in Hudson Bay have become so important to our understanding of the species, how Churchill became "The Polar Bear Capital of the World".

 

LOCAL AUTHOR

Author Tommy Tee Thrasher is excited to have his book Footprints to the Stars ready for you to purchase at exclusively at our store.

!!! EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE AT BOREAL BOOKS!!!

This book was written by Tommy about his life here in the Western Arctic. Born near Paulatuk, Northwest Territories, in 1934, Tommy has led a fascinating life that combined the traditional life of this area with modern "town" life. The book includes a section of photographs from Tommy's family album.

Once you are done reading about Tommy's life, visit our Gifts and Souvenirs section to purchase traditional ulus, bone fish hooks and jiggling sticks made by the author.

 

FEATURED AUTHOR!!!

Keith Billington, author of Housecalls by Dogsled and Cold Land, Warm Hearts visited Inuvik and Fort McPherson September 2009.

Keith and his wife, Muriel, lived in Fort McPherson in the 1960's as community nurses. He wrote about his experiences in his book and came to Inuvik to share stories and photos. Old friends and new came to listen to his talk at Cafe Gallery. Keith's books are full of great stories about life in the North before the road system changed it completely.

Keith Billington speaks while his wife, Muriel, and author Robert Alexie look on from the audience. Cafe Gallery provided great snacks and beverages for everyone there.