Born in Rochester, N.Y., in 1920, Mr. Brown went to the Canadian Arctic in 1948 as an Oblate priest and travelled extensively by dog team throughout the region.Over the course of his life he served as a priest, a bush pilot, a dog musher, a painter, a journalist and a storyteller.
In addition to his religious duties, he performed routine medical work such as delivering babies, sewing up axe cuts and pulling teeth. He has also been a fire warden, dogcatcher, storekeeper, postmaster and newspaper editor.
In 1962 Mr. Brown was sent to Colville Lake, a short distance north of the Arctic Circle, in the traditional homeland of the Hareskin Dene. On the shore of the lake he built a log church, Our Lady of the Snows, in what was soon a growing community of log buildings.
Today the Dene people at Colville Lake and throughout the Northwest Territories are remembering Mr. Brown as one of their own. Mr. Brown died July 11 at his home. He was 94. His funeral was held today in Colville Lake.
Throughout his life, Mr. Brown recorded the places where he lived and travelled and the people he came to know in photographs, on film, in paintings and in his books.
In 1971 he took up with Margaret, a part-native woman from Tuktoyaktuk, and this event precipitated his leaving the priesthood. Along the way he and Margaret established the Colville Lake Lodge, a hunting and fishing resort that has entertained European royalty, politicians, movie stars and just plain rich folks. He had a museum and art gallery on site where he used to sell his paintings.
His books include Arctic Journal, Arctic Journal II and Free Spirits. His most recent book, End-of-Earth People: The Arctic Sahtu Dene, was published in March.
In a statement, N.W.T. Premier Rob McLeod called Mr. Brown a Renaissance man.
“He had amazing recollection of detail, of life in the North, and I think that you don’t get too many personalities like that,” McLeod said. “He added a lot of colour to the North and he will be missed.”
Brown’s funeral took place July 15 in Colville Lake.