Publisher: Caitlin Press Inc.

In the spring of 2007 the Canadian Forces and the Canadian Rangers, the regiment responsible for providing a military presence in isolated communities, set out on a treacherous journey across jagged sea ice and over steep and hostile terrain. Their mission was to travel over two thousand kilometres by snowmobile from Resolute to the Canadian Forces Station Alert, and plant a Canadian flag enroute at Ward Hunt Island. Author, photographer and filmmaker Dianne Whelan is the first woman to accompany the Rangers on this never before patrolled route of the northwestern coast of Ellesmere Island. Walking in the path of the historic giants of exploration, they were the first to reach this destination in the High Arctic since American explorer Robert E. Peary's famous voyage in 1906. Operation Nunalivut (the Inuktitut word for "land that is ours") pushes Whelan to her physical and emotional limits. There are some chilling moments, such as when her snowmobile catches fire or later when she plunges into a twenty-foot crack in the ice, but Whelan boldly faces conditions only few can imagine and makes history as the first woman to successfully complete the gruelling trip. In This Vanishing Land Whelan shares her personal journey and explores the tumultuous political history and global significance of the Canadian High Arctic.

About Dianne Whelan

Dianne Whelanis an award-winning Canadian photographer and filmmaker residing in Garden Bay, BC. The subject of her first book, 'This Vanishing Land', references her experience as an embedded media person on a historical Sovereignty Patrol in the Canadian High Arctic. Her recently-released National Film Board documentary, 'This Land', is based on thesame journey and has won several awards, including Best Short Documentary at both the Planet in Focus Film Festival in Toronto and the 2010 Leo Awards for BC film and television. The film can be viewed online here http://interactive.nfb.ca/#/thisland

multi-media web project on her Arctic journey was released in June 2010 and recently won 'Best Small Multimedia Site' at the Online Journalism Awards.In April 2010, Whelan traveled to Nepal and Mount Everest Base Camp to direct and shoot her next documentary film (currently in post-production for release in the fall of 2011) which is also the subject of her forthcoming book.
www.diannewhelan.com