Prentice G. "Spike" Downes (1909–1959) was an American school teacher and author, who travelled by canoe to explore the Great Barren Lands and learn the ways of the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

and Dene people. Downes' journals record a disappearing people, and a landscape unknown to all but the Canadian natives at that time. His daughter Annie Downes Catterson said of him that he traveled a great distance "in order to learn the things of long ago."

Biography

Downes was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

in 1909, the son of an Episcopal clergyman. He graduated from Kent School in Kent, Connecticut in 1928 and subsequently from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He made his first trip to the far north in 1936. When Downes was not traveling, he lived and taught in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...

On his trips, he kept detailed journals in which he recorded not only daily events, but also the stories and traditions of the

and Dene people. In 1939, Downes, with his companion, John, from the

Brabant Lake Brabant Lake is an Indian settlement of 102 people located in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Brabant Lake is 172 km northeast of La Ronge and 45 km southwest of Southend.Google maps The community is located on the northern end of Braban ...

area ascended the Cochrane River starting at the town of Brochet on Reindeer Lake, without maps, and depending solely upon the words of the local Cree Indians to find his way to the

Thlewiaza River The Thlewiaza River is a river in Canada. Although some sources define the river as originating out of Nueltin Lake, according to the Canadian Geographical Names Database the river begins at Snyder Lake in northwestern Manitoba. From there the ri ...

and his final destination, the

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

outpost on Nueltin Lake. Based on this trip, Downes wrote the classic canoe adventure book, ''Sleeping Island''.

Bibliography

* (2006 paperback, Heron Dance Press, ) * Downes, P. "Prentice Downs eastern arctic journal 1936, edited and introduced by R.H. Cockburn." ''Arctic'' 36 (3) 232-250 1983. http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic36-3-232.pdf accessed April 27, 2009. * Cockburn, R
"Prentice G. Downs 1909-1959"
''Arctic 35'' (3) 448

Biography

Further reading

Bibliography

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