Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness and Murder in the Arctic Barren Lands [Paperback]

Mckay Jenkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2006

In the winter of 1913, high in the Canadian Arctic, two Catholic priests set out on a dangerous mission to reach a group of Eskimos and convert them. Upon reaching their destination, the priests were murdered. Over the next three years, one of the Arctic’s most tragic stories became one of North America’s strangest and most memorable police investigations and trials. A near-perfect parable of late colonialism, as well as a rich exploration of the differences between European Christianity and Eskimo mysticism, Bloody Falls of the Coppermine possesses the intensity of true crime and the romance of wilderness adventure.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Demonstratinig a skilled storyteller's gift for crafting a gripping tale, Jenkins (White Death) further enhances his reputation as a popular historian with this latest effort. An obscure Arctic tragedy—the brutal killing of two Catholic priests by two Eskimos—gives Jenkins an opportunity to "explor[e] a moment in history in which two remarkably different cultures violently intersected." The clergymen began a mission to a remote group of Eskimos in 1911, but poor planning and an almost criminal underestimation of the challenges involved doomed the effort from the start. Jenkins has mastered the art of conveying his themes with telling and memorable details—for example, since the Eskimos had no concept of God, the beginning of the Lord's Prayer was translated as " 'Our boat owner, who is in heaven.'" Tensions arising from the struggle to survive the brutal environment led to the killings. Eventually, the murderers were captured by the Mounties in a remarkably efficient search of the vast wilderness. The trial, with the defendants' questionable ability to truly understand what is transpiring, affords the author further opportunities to illuminate a culture clash with resonances beyond its particular time and place, and should gain him a wide audience. 8 pages of b&w photos, maps, not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Fans of true crime or survival adventure will find much to enjoy in this compelling book. In 1913, two young priests set out for the Canadian Arctic, hoping to convert a newly discovered tribe of Eskimos. They were not trained in how to live in the barren, frigid wilderness and had almost no knowledge of the native language. After being shepherded north by Canadian explorers, they arrived at the camp, exhausted and ill. Trying to explain religious doctrines with hand signs was as frustrating to the priests as their ineptitude in hunting was to their puzzled hosts. An altercation over a rifle resulted in the priests being ordered to leave. They disappeared. Slowly, rumors began to filter south. The priests had been killed. Four Canadian Mounties set off on a 3000-mile search to discover the truth. Their amazing adventures captured the attention of the whole country, as did the trial when two Eskimos were brought to Edmonton. Jenkins used diaries, journals, official reports, and transcripts to re-create the extraordinary trial of the "stone age hunters" by a 20th-century court. The clash of cultures left the tribes fragmented, disoriented, and ravaged by disease. This story carries a sobering message about the cost of the invasion of modern society into remote areas. Seventeen pages of black-and-white photographs of the central characters and a map are included.–Kathy Tewell, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (January 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812975375
• ISBN-13: 978-0812975376
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,739,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > Travel > Canada > Provinces > Territories

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Catholics vs. Eskimos, January 15, 2005

By 

L. Campbell "adventure reader" (Ferndale, MT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness, Murder, and the Collision of Cultures in the Arctic, 1913 (Hardcover)

I thouroughly enjoyed this book. Jenkins does a great job piecing together the story from letters, court records & scattered oral history. The first half of the book is a lot of adventure & was hard to put down. The second part included a lot of lawyer-speak in court, but it wasn't overdone. This is a great example of manifest destiny at work. After reading the epilogue of "Bloody Falls...", I've come to the conclusion that neither the Catholics nor the Eskimos won! ps. All of Jenkins' books are great!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nomads Meet Nomads, April 20, 2005

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness, Murder, and the Collision of Cultures in the Arctic, 1913 (Hardcover)

This fascinating piece of history and investigative journalism explores the ramifications brought about by the deaths of two priests in far northern Canada in 1913, at the hands of Eskimos in what could be considered a catastrophic case of cultural misunderstanding. McKay Jenkins offers an interesting look at the cultures of both the Eskimos and the first Whites who tried to enter the frozen north permanently, as well as showing some insight into each culture's worldview and proclivities toward misunderstanding the other. Jenkins then describes the impressive efforts of the Mounted Police in tracking down the two perpetrators and hauling them back to the white man's city for what may have been history's strangest trials - in which the media, judge, and lawyers behaved with a bizarre mix of cultural condescension, morbid fascination, and political correctness. Jenkins justifiably uses this sad but entertaining story as an example of the problems of colonialism, illustrating the difficulties faced by long-established cultures when they try to adapt to other environments or customs. Here we see that the Eskimos were indeed nomads but were far from uncivilized, as they had built a strong knowledge of their demanding environment over centuries, while the incoming Whites may have appeared to be civilized but were themselves cultural nomads who were nearly helpless in a forbidding landscape. The result, as seen in this book's story, was tragedy, but also a quite interesting cultural lesson about cooperation and humility. [~doomsdayer520~]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arctic Justice, February 11, 2007

By 

K. E. Kaspar "book worm" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness and Murder in the Arctic Barren Lands (Paperback)

Wow! What an interesting tale of murder and justice in the Arctic Circle at the turn of the last century. I had no idea how much I would enjoy this book when I picked it up. It has a lot to say about colonialism and the concept of justice.