Nastawgan

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If the trip program is the heart of the WCA, then its quarterly journal, Nastawgan, is the soul. More than merely a club newsletter, the journal is a resource for articles and reports about wilderness travel and informs members of WCA trips and issues in the paddling community. You will find submissions by club members and other like-minded outdoor adventurers, as well as each season’s Events Calendar.

Nastawgan accepts a wide range of topics from wilderness canoeing and winter travel to club events and training reports, historical and environmental subjects, photo essays, equipment reviews, letters to the editor, news briefs, and other paddling pieces.

The Nastawgan is a quarterly journal published by the Wilderness Canoe Association, originally called The Beaver Damn which started in 1974. By 1975 the name was changed to The Wilderness Canoist and in 1982 it became Nastawgan. In 2021 the e-version (e-Nastawgan) was started. It showcases incredible wilderness expeditions, inspiring conservation work, camping stories, paddling advice and more.

All journals are housed in the  Government of Canada: Library and Archives.  The Canadian governments Library  Archives consider the WCA Nastawgan journal has national significance to Canada by including our journals in their collection. 

Their website states "Library and Archives Canada (LAC) helps Canadians gain a better understanding of who they are. It serves as the continuing memory of the federal government and its institutions and as the guardian of Canada’s distant past and recent history"....In our national library, important information about the country’s history is made available to Canadians through the collection and preservation of books, periodicals (magazines and newspapers), music and much more.....We collect a wide variety of record types, including print, audio and visual files. We have archives from the Government of Canada as well as from other organizations and individuals who have national significance to Canada. We do not collect everything. We try to collect archives that will help us know the story of Canada over time.

Increasing in printing and mailing cost over the years and the shrinking potential print house suppliers has driven us to look for alternates to get our journal out. In 2021, we started e-Nastawgan as a parallel effort to our print/mailing the journal out.

We are also offsetting the print cost by adding ads of canoeing related businesses that are inline with our members interest.

The WCA retains a complete archive of all Nastawgan issues. WCA members must log in to view archives issues of the current year or previous year.  The archives contain all the journals back to 1974 Vol. 1 No.1   You can view the archives here at Nastawgan Archives.

The WCA has compiled a 'Journal Index' which is a list of past Nastawgan articles, by subject content & title, called the 'Nastawgan Index'.  It is an aid for the journal years 1974 - 2007 that can be used to track down past Nastawgan articles for the purpose of trip planning, research, or general interest. If you are interested in searching for a specific subject area from a past issue of Nastawgan, select the category from the category list below & click on the link.

Work to update the index is in progress

Click here for the Journal Index.