North of Familiar

In 1974, Terry Milos moved to rural northern Canada to pursue her dream of homesteading. Following the seventies trend of the back-to-the-landers, she and her partner left the city life for what they imagined would be a simpler existence. Sometimes humorous and often insightful, North of Familiar is the story of a woman who learned to hunt, fish and live off the land in what most would consider an utterly hostile and unbelievably cold environment.

After a few months of cobbling together a living, Milos reluctantly left the north to further her education but with a dream of returning as a teacher. A year later she accepted a job in the small town of Atlin where she learned to expect the unexpected. Terry’s adventures in the north pushed her beyond the familiar as she applied her street savvy skills to negotiate a desolate mountain trail, or mush her dogs to school when the deep cold rendered her car useless. But there were also times when the unfamiliar became pure fear, such as when the pilot of a bush plane on which she was the only passenger fell asleep, sending the plane on a downward descent, or when a strange man was repeatedly seen lurking in the woods by Terry’s cabin after a trapper mysteriously went missing.

North of Familiar is about coming to grips with life in the bush far away from the luxuries of the city. In Carcross, Carmacks, Dawson City and Old Crow, Milos navigated the cultural differences between her urban upbringing and the communities of Canada’s Indigenous north. In spite of the harsh country, Terry survived and thrived, while raising a family and becoming a part of a strong and unique community. This story is not only entertaining and inspiring, it is also a story of joy, friendship and change.

Terry Milos

Terry Milos was born and raised in Florida and moved to California to attend university. On a hike one day she met an outdoor enthusiast from Alaska who became her husband. They married a year later and moved to northern Canada where they bought property on Little Atlin Lake in the Yukon Territory. For nineteen years, she raised a family and taught school in many remote Canadian communities. North of Familiar: A Woman’s Story of Homesteading and Adventure in the Canadian Wilderness is her first book.