Komatik Book Series

The Komatik Series was begun by the Arctic Institute in 1989 as a publication outlet for scholarly monographs of northern interest. Offerings in the series were geared to a post-high school audience, included scholarly citation and bibliography, and were peer-reviewed prior to acceptance for publication.  (ISSN 0840-4488).
This series transitioned into the Northern LIght Series in 2002 when we began a partnership with the University of Calgary Press.

	Gathering Strength In Gathering Strength, the final report of the Native Employment Training Study, author Frances Abele analyses training programs for Native people in the Northwest Territories. She skillfully blends what Native people themselves have to say about the adequacy of the training opportunities available to them with insights drawn from an eclectic mixture of disciplines. Based upon research conducted by both Native and non-Native people, the book offers a concrete examination of seven different approaches to training Native People for wage employment. Combining this research with information about the training needs identified by Native peoples in the Northwest Territories, the author concludes with recommendations about training policy, funding, control, and techniques. Both the analysis and recommendations are situated in the context of the history of colonization of the North by non-indigenous peoples and Native peoples’ struggle for decolonization and self-determination. 1989. ISBN 0-919034-61-6. xxvi + 257 p., b&w illus., bibliography, index. Softbound. Out of print.	Frances Abele
	Shield Country  In Shield Country, author Jamie Bastedo, a boreal ecologist, professional planner and outdoor educator, vividly describes the history and natural science of a relatively little-known ecological region of the North—the taiga forest of the Canadian Shield—in a style informative, personal and highly entertaining. According to the author, Shield Country is part personal journal, drawing on events that illustrate his relationship to the land; part storybook, portraying the land’s past, present and future; part reference book, complete with systematic descriptions of ecological phenomena, an extensive glossary and a detailed index; and part field guide, providing sufficient information on the region’s geology, plants and animals for readers to recognize the main ecological players on this particular northern stage. 1994. ISBN 0-919034-79-9. ix + 271 p., maps, b&w and colour illus., glossary, bibliography, index. Softbound.	Jamie Bastedo
	Crossroads to Greenland  Crossroads to Greenland is the story of the first 3000 years of the human presence in Canada’s Eastern High Arctic. It describes the archaeological evidence from Palaeoeskimo sites that have been systematically excavated on prehistoric sites in the Bache Peninsula region on the central east coast of Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, between 1977 and 1988. The book provides the readers with a detailed description and analysis of the different stages of human settlement, beginning with the nearly 4000-year-old Independence I culture and ending with the Late Dorset culture about 1000 years ago. Combined with the research data is a discussion of the many ecological and environmental factors that shaped and to some extent determined the lives of the prehistoric High Arctic hunters through time. 1990. ISBN 0-919034-63-2. xvi + 364 p., 121 figures, 53 plates, appendices, bibliography. Softbound. Out of print.	Peter Schledermann
	Voices in Stone  Voices in Stone is a personal journey of discovery, a portrait and a history of the human presence in the far northern regions of Canada. Archaeological investigations have provided us with a window into the world of Palaeo- and Neoeskimos who occupied the High Arctic intermittently for more than 4000 years. The book also tells the story of the search for evidence of ancient human settlements on the central east coast of Ellesmere Island and the exciting discovery of Norse artifacts in thirteenth-century Neoeskimo winter houses. In 1818, Sir John Ross made his first recorded Western contact with descendants of the Neoeskimos, the Polar Eskimos or Inughuit of North Greenland. His entry into Baffin Bay led the way for Western whalers, explorers, and North Pole seekers, whose presence turned out to have dramatic consequences for the Inughuit. Voices in Stone is not only an account of the discovery of archaeological materials in the High Arctic, but a story of life in remote, isolated research camps occasionally threatened by sudden, violent storms or curious polar bears. 1996. ISBN 0-919034-87-X. xviii + 221 p., maps, b&w and colour illus., bibliography, index. Softbound. Cdn$25.00 + p&h.	Peter Schledermann
	Back from the Brink: The Road to Muskox Conservation in the Northwest Territories   The first recorded encounter between a European person and a muskox in the Northwest Territories occurred in 1689. Just over 225 years later, the exploitation of the species for its hide had reached such an intense level that there was a real danger of its extermination (at least on the mainland tundra). Legislation was passed in 1917 by the government of Canada that ensured protection for the species. After an initial slow rate of recovery, the population of muskoxen in the Northwest Territories is now showing a heartening resurgence. Present population estimates are in the order of 85,000 animals, and the muskox has recolonized most of its historic range. On the basis of the historic record,Back from the Brink examines the factors that led to the near-extinction of this remarkable tundra species and documents its gratifying recovery over the past 70 years.  1991. 0-919034-67-5. xvi + 127 p., 5 maps, b&w illus., bibliography, index. Softbound. Out of print.	William Barr
	Sunrise Over Pangnirtung   Dr. Otto Schaffer, born in Germany, spent 32 years of his outstanding medical career in the barren lands of northern Canada, a pioneer of health care for the Inuit. He traveled by dogsled, stayed in igloos in remote Inuit camps, learned the Inuktitut language, ate raw frozen caribou meat, and operated by the light of a seal-oil lamp. His friendship and rapport with the Inuit enabled him to travel the Arctic from the Yukon to Baffin Island, treating sick people and documenting their health problems for the Northern Medical Research Unit. This research would become more than 100 papers and publications, an outstanding contribution to medical literature. 2000. ISBN 0-919034-97-7. xiii + 250 p., maps, b&w illus., bibliography, index. Softbound. Cdn$19.95 + p&h.	Gerald W. Hankins, M.D.
	For information on ordering copies of this title, please contact the Arctic Institute at arctic@ucalgary.ca