Émile-Fortuné Petitot was a French oblate missionary, who worked to record place names, stories, and histories during his travels in the Athabasca-Mackenzie area of what is now the Northwest Territories during 1862-1883. This text is specifically about the Great Bear Lake region.

Petitot was avidly interested in indigenous languages and stories, and his skills as a linguist and ethnographic researcher make his work invaluable in understanding the history and meaning of indigenous cultural and ecological landscapes. Petitot recounts stories about places, provides descriptions of the sites he visited, and details travel routes, fisheries, and hunting trips.

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Petitot, Emile. Exploration de la région du Grand Lac des Ours (fin de quinze ans sous le cercle polaire). Paris: Téqui, 1893.

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