Following in the Footsteps of Canada's Cartographer

Before there was Man vs. Wild, there was a more cerebral survival show on BBC featuring Ray Mears that delved into survival skills and experiences that also channeled lessons learned from indigenous cultures. I had the great pleasure of hosting Mears as a keynote speaker at the 2002 GIS Conference in Canada, and I was thrilled to learn of his latest program that follows the early explorers and mappers of this rugged land.

The new program is called Northern Wilderness in which Mears:

“explores the vast Boreal Forest and its rich animal life from beavers to bears. He travels across the Hudson Bay by canoe, and tells the story of the fur trade and trappers who traded with the hat manufacturers of England. Ray follows the paths of the great early northern explorers, Samuel Hearne and David Thompson, who survived through their knowledge of what we now call bushcraft, as they trekked across the tundra and the Rocky Mountains. He explores the frozen north and learns the ways of the Inuit, who teach him how to combat snow blindness and build shelter.”

The star of much of this latest adventure is the Welsh-born 18th Century surveyor David Thompson, who drew the map of Canada using a sextant. Thompson mapped nearly four million square miles of North America and the tale of his accomplishments with support of first nations tribes melds nicely with the themes of preceding programs by Mears.

It may be some time before this program will be broadcast on television in North America, but the DVD and an accompanying book are available here.

Read about the new series in this story from BBC News