Far North

Gabe is never alone in his need to survive in the wilderness of the Northwest Territories. From the very beginning of their need to survive when the plane won’t start up again, Gabe, Raymond, Clint, and Johnny Raven work together to get the supplies off the plane before it goes over the Falls. Even though Clint dies in the process, his sacrifice to try to get the ammo off the plane shows how important their teamwork was. Clint was a part of their team and willing to risk (and eventually sacrifice) his life for the sake of Gabe, Raymond, and Johnny’s survival.

The need for survival glues Gabe, Raymond, and Johnny together. Johnny knows the most about surviving in the Northwest Territories because he is a Dene elder who spent most of his life in the harsh cold. He teaches Gabe and Raymond how to survive by building shelters, making fires, and hunting. Johnny knows how to make snowshoes and where to find plants that are edible in the winter. Even though Johnny knows the most about outdoor survival, Gabe decides in Chapter 9 to try rafting down the Nahanni River while the Chinook winds are warm and preventing the river from icing over. Johnny disagrees with this decision, but Raymond ends up siding with Gabe: “The old man may not have understood the words, but it was apparent from the mournful expression on his gentle face that he understood completely that Raymond had sided with me. He looked older than ever, immeasurably sad” (82). Johnny decides to go with the boys down the river even though he disagrees with it because he knows they must stick together and work as a team to survive the winter.

After Johnny’s death, Raymond and Gabe’s ability to work together becomes even more important to their survival. When Gabe falls into the river in Chapter 15, his death is prevented by Raymond as he makes a fire and helps him change into dry clothes. When Raymond becomes severely injured after the bear attack in Chapter 19, Raymond must then lean completely on Gabe to survive. Raymond helps with Gabe’s mental state by fixing Johnny’s hand drum and thus preventing panic with its calming rhythms. When Raymond tells Gabe to move on without him, Gabe refuses because he wants them to either live or die together. Although Raymond thinks that Gabe would have a higher chance at survival without him, they have worked as a team to survive for the months that they have been in the wild. To separate would mean the end of their friendship, as well as the end of their chances of surviving together. Gabe pulls the toboggan with Raymond and their supplies on it all the way to safety and ensures their survival. When faced with going over an ice bridge, Gabe decides they must go together instead of one by one so that they either live or die together. He tells Raymond, “How about we both make it or we both don’t? That’s the way it should be. Quick and dirty” (203).

In the final chapter of the novel, Johnny’s impact on Gabe and Raymond’s survival is made known to everyone at the potlatch. Gabe and Raymond attribute their survival to what Johnny taught them, for without Johnny they would not have known what to do together after his death. Gabe and Raymond only could have survived by working as a team.