David Pelly is one guy who has learned to talk to our elders and listen to stories ... Nobody could have done a better job writing down my mother's memories of her childhood than David Pelly.

You will learn something from David's work — he writes about the real stuff.

Pelly captures the spirit and history of the land and its aboriginal mysticism.

He writes with respect and clarity, which allows the reader to learn in a truly honest and insightful way.

Pelly’s latest book is an incredible read. The Ancestors Are Happy focuses on the people of the North [and] brings the reader on a journey across the landscape, hosted and guided by the Inuit elders. It’s a journey worth taking. Everyone should read this book.

Remarkable stories carried within the many humble, authentic hearts of these remarkable elders that [Pelly] captured so authentically … a tremendous contribution.

A damned fine writer with important things to say about the North and its people.… reading Pelly’s stuff is like travelling on a well-built sled skimming across the deep blue sea-ice on a bright spring day.

It’s a wonderful book. I enjoyed it thoroughly and learned a lot.

David Pelly is one who came back — again and again — and so earned the trust and the friendship of the people he sojourned among.

An important and delightful read, and a vital historical work to preserve a vanishing culture. Both the climate and culture of the Arctic are changing at a dizzyingly fast rate. It is too easy to forget the past, the world as it once was. Which is why The Ancestors Are Happy is a must-read. Because to survive in this increasingly urban world, we can’t forget the human power of perseverance and joy within our relationship with Nature, in all its embracing wonder and swirling spring blizzards.

I felt compelled to reach out in appreciation of the care and dedication behind this remarkable work…. As someone who writes about places shaped by conflict, endurance, and cultural transformation, I deeply respect authors who take the time to listen, especially when working with elders whose memories carry entire lifeways within them. Preserving such testimony feels urgent in an era when both landscapes and oral traditions are under immense pressure.

David F. Pelly, a modern-day explorer of the North’s cultural landscape, has lived in and travelled throughout the Arctic since the late 1970s. He is the author of ten books and numerous articles on the land and its people, including Ukkusiksalik, The Old Way North, and Sacred Hunt. Much of his writing is based on oral history shared with him by Inuit elders. For this work, he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2025. He now lives near Ottawa.

• Foreword by the Honourable Paul Okalik
• Maps
• Preface
• Retrospective
• Introduction
• Arctic River Diary
• Stories of the Land
• Uvajuq
• The Mystery of the Sallirmiut
• Inuit Mapping — Understanding traditional navigation
• Across Boothia — A dog sled journey back in time
• Thomas Simpson — He could have changed the destiny of Franklin's ill-fated expedition
• Amundsen, the Gjoa, and the Northwest Passage
• The Expedition of Radford and Street — A deadly encounter with Inuit
• JW Tyrrell — First of the modern barrenlands travellers
• The Legend of John Hornby
• Going Home to Kutagajuk
• The Mysterious Disappearance of Father Buliard
• The Journey of Their Lives — Perry River to Gjoa Haven
• Ivujivik — Sharing the hunt
• Iqaluktuuq
• Hockey Night in Nunavut
• Spring Seal Hunt
• Mountains of the Tuurngait
• People of the Land
• Introduction
• Iquginnaq
• Mannik
• Qupirrualuk
• Martha Kutsiutikku
• Kaomayok
• Manernaluk
• Annie Tatty
• Sheetoga
• Kudloo
• Attima
• William Tagoona
• Nungak
• Tahiuq and Three Generations On
• Ekvanna
• Ayalik's Canoe Trip
• Envoi
• The Ancestors are Happy
• Glossary of Inuktitut