Mooswa & Others of the Boundaries

Set against the endless spruce‑covered horizons of the Athabasca and Saskatchewan rivers, this tale unfolds through the eyes of a trapper who spent six seasons listening to the stories of the forest’s own inhabitants. The narrator weaves together the rugged life of fur‑winning men with the vivid personalities of animals such as Black Fox, the wily wolverine, and Whisky‑Jack, the chatty Canada jay. The result is a warm, almost lyrical portrait of a world where camp‑fire chatter turns into legend.

At the heart of the story is Mooswa, a young moose who once befriended a boy named Rod when the animal was a calf raised in Fort Resolution. Years later, now a teenager, Rod returns to the northern woods for his first winter of trapping, and the bond with Mooswa is rekindled amidst the challenges of the frozen frontier. Along the way he encounters the clever Black Fox, the mischievous Carcajou, and a host of other forest denizens, each adding colour and caution to his apprenticeship.