Oowikapun, or, How the Gospel reached the Nelson River Indians

In Short

This narrative follows Oowikapun, an Indian hunter whose life is irrevocably altered after he is nursed back to health by a Christian convert named Memotas. Inspired by this encounter, Oowikapun seeks a missionary to bring his new understanding of the "Great Spirit" to the Nelson River people. The book serves as both a spiritual odyssey and an ethnographic glimpse into the life of nineteenth-century missionaries and the indigenous communities they moved among, documenting the immense physical sacrifices required to navigate the treacherous landscapes of the North.

The Story

The story begins with Oowikapun, a young hunter living in the Nelson River region, who is plagued by a growing sense of spiritual dissatisfaction. His outlook is shattered during a hunting trip when he is severely mauled by a bear. Seeking help, he stumbles upon the wigwam of Memotas, a Christian Indian who provides both medical care and a radical new model of domestic life. Oowikapun is deeply struck by the respect and kindness Memotas shows his wife, a stark contrast to the social norms Oowikapun has always known. During his recovery, he hears fragments of Christian teaching that begin to displace his previous, fear-based reliance on the "bad spirit."

Upon returning to his village, Oowikapun finds himself unable to settle back into his old life. He is haunted by a dream that leaves him feeling spiritually adrift, and he engages in the "dance of death" in a desperate attempt to find peace. He meets Astumastao, a woman who once lived at the Norway House Mission as a child. She recounts her memories of the missionaries and the "Island of Light," a missionary boat, which fuels Oowikapun's desire to secure a teacher for their own people. Their burgeoning relationship is defined by a shared, albeit secret, longing for the "white man’s way."

The middle of the book follows the arduous preparations for a mission. Oowikapun and Astumastao both work toward the same goal, though they approach it differently. Oowikapun, despite his internal struggle with past habits and the temptation to return to tribal rituals, proves his character through acts of bravery, including the rescue of an elderly man abandoned by his tribe. Meanwhile, Astumastao remains steadfast in her desire to see a mission established, famously refusing to marry Oowikapun until she can do so within the church she remembers from her youth.

The narrative reaches its peak when a missionary finally agrees to make the grueling winter journey to the Nelson River. The trek is described in vivid, punishing detail—the missionary suffers immensely from the physical demands of snowshoeing and the cold, eventually arriving exhausted but resolute. The arrival is met with deep interest by the community. Following a long, intensive sermon, many villagers, led by their chief, choose to be baptized. The story concludes with the marriage of Oowikapun and Astumastao. They reflect on their journey, debating whether the missionary’s arrival was the result of Oowikapun’s advocacy or Astumastao’s long-held faith. They ultimately settle into a life defined by their new religious practice, maintaining a "family altar" in their wilderness home and continuing to worship together with other families in the area.

How It Unfolds

The hunting accident Oowikapun is severely wounded by a bear and finds shelter in the wigwam of Memotas. This chance meeting introduces him to a different way of life and the first seeds of a new faith.

The period of soul-searching Back in his village, Oowikapun struggles with his changing worldview and his lingering attachments to traditional rites. He meets Astumastao, whose childhood memories of the Norway House Mission inspire him to seek out a teacher for his people.

The journey of the missionary A missionary and a team of guides set out on a perilous winter journey across frozen lakes and through deep forests. The trek is physically draining, resulting in exhaustion and injury for the party, particularly the missionary.

The arrival and conversion The arrival at the Nelson River is met with local interest and, eventually, a mass decision by the people to accept the new faith. The book concludes with the union of Oowikapun and Astumastao and their ongoing commitment to their new community.

The People

Oowikapun is the primary lens through which the reader experiences this shift. He is a man of intense, often turbulent emotions, defined by his transition from a traditional hunter to a man seeking a formal religious identity. His development is marked by his capacity for both physical courage and deep, reflective humility.

Astumastao acts as the moral and practical compass of the story. Unlike Oowikapun, who is discovering these concepts for the first time, she carries the echoes of her childhood at the Norway House Mission. Her refusal to marry until she can do so in a "beautiful Christian way" reveals a woman of significant resolve and foresight.

Memotas serves as the catalyst. A man of quiet, consistent virtue, he is the benchmark against which Oowikapun measures his own progress. His ability to blend his indigenous identity with his new faith makes him a bridge between two worlds for the protagonist.

The Missionary is a more distant figure, representing the physical hardship of the mission work. He is depicted not as a superhuman, but as a man who suffers alongside his guides, his presence serving as the fulfillment of the indigenous characters' long-standing prayers.

In Its Own Voice

"While, in his simple faith, he had paddled along the beautiful rivers, or wandered through the wild forests of his country, catching the fish or hunting the game, where at times he had heard the thunder's crash and seen the majestic tree riven by the lightning's power, and perhaps in these seasons of nature's wild commotion had 'seen God in cloud and heard him in the wind,' yet until very lately he had never heard of anything which had caused him to imagine that he was in any way allied to that Great Spirit, or was in any way responsible to him."

This reflection captures Oowikapun’s initial state of mind before he encountered the teachings of the mission.

"Indeed it must be so, for there are the words I have learned about it out of his great book: 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.'"

Astumastao shares this verse with a dying man, illustrating how she relied on her limited but cherished memories of Christian scripture to provide comfort in times of crisis.

What It's Really About

At its heart, this is a story about the desire for a larger, more structured sense of meaning in a harsh environment. It explores the tension between traditional life and the arrival of a new, colonial religious order, framing the conversion not as a sudden erasure of culture, but as a long, arduous process of internal change. There is an underlying argument here about the universality of the gospel; the book insists that the indigenous people of the Nelson River were not just recipients of an outside force, but active agents who sought out and claimed this faith for themselves, often at great personal cost. It raises questions about how suffering—whether through the hunt or the soul's search—can drive a person toward reconciliation.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the history of North American missions will find this book an evocative, if period-specific, primary source. It provides a rare, albeit stylized, look at the logistical reality of nineteenth-century life in the Canadian North, detailing everything from the "caching" of meat in small trees to the intense physical toll of winter dog-sled travel.

Modern readers should be prepared for the book's late-Victorian perspective. The prose is earnest and often dramatic, reflecting the religious fervor of its time. Some may find the portrayals of traditional indigenous life filtered through the author's specific missionary lens, though the text does credit the resilience and skill of the people it describes. The focus on Oowikapun’s internal turmoil—his "mental disquietude"—offers a surprisingly intimate portrait of a man caught between two worlds. If you enjoy literature that captures the intersection of vast, untamed landscapes and the intimate, often agonizing process of personal change, you will find this a compelling document. It remains a stark reminder of a time when the crossing of hundreds of miles of wilderness was a routine, if life-threatening, part of one's calling.