So You Think You Are North? (storey 12 of 40)

My first conscious perception of North and South came years ago at Marsh Lake. I was visiting my friend Verna at the time. Her father Charlie Taylor asked me when I had moved “North” to Whitehorse. I remember considering that perception, I had not prior to this question. I replied.” this is actually a move south for me.” It was not the answer that he was used to.

This concept drew boundaries in my mind that had not existed before. I knew that I lived in the north, but to me the north was anything above the border of the Territories, not a consideration within those boundaries, and anything above that imaginary line was home.

The White Girl Series starts in Fort Norman on the McKenzie River, NWT, Canada, in 1965. In 1789 Alexander McKenzie canoed the then “River of Disappointment,” to the Bering Sea. His disappointment being documented in the title he assigned to the river. Sir Alex had hoped that he would reach the Pacific Ocean via this route.