ABOUT US

About us

Joe Bailey, North Star Adventures

North Star Adventures is principally owned by Joe Bailey. Daughter Melissa manages the business and son John manages the logistical requirements needed for delivering the tours. Joe is the primary guide who works directly with the guests. He is a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Joe first experienced traditional life on the land even before he was able to walk. He was checking rabbit snares in the winter and fishnets in the summer before he started school. He was raised by his grandparents on the southern shore of Great Slave Lake and later in the “oldtown” section of Yellowknife. His grandparents, Joe and Judith Buggins hunted, trapped and lived off the land in and around the East Arm region and south shores of Great Slave Lake as well as into the Barren lands.

Growing up, Joe lived and worked all across the North. To the East Arm of the Great Slave Lake, to the Nahanni and Mackenzie Mountain ranges, up and down the Mackenzie, the Liard and the Bear Rivers, to the Great Bear Lake in both summer and winter, into the Barren lands, to the Arctic Ocean and along most of the NWT's Highway and into many of the smaller, isolated traditional Aboriginal communities. Whether it was falling through the ice north of the Arctic Circle, chased by an irate black bear in the Mackenzie Mountains, judging a seal skinning contest in Inuvik or camping out under the amazing Aurora in –40 C Joe has had the wonderful opportunity to experience many exciting and sometimes harrowing northern adventures.

Joe is proud of his Aboriginal heritage and the land he calls home, always describing the North as “The last greatest, cleanest and safest place to live.” It is because of these passions he started North Star Adventures. His experiences, his desire to preserve the natural beauty of Canada's north and for promoting traditional lifestyles, tourism has always been a natural fit for him. One of Joe's dreams has always been to showcase the unique, exciting, spectacular and breathtaking world of northern Canada to the rest of the world. As a 100% Aboriginal owned tour company, North Star Adventures and Joe are happy to offer you an true northern, Aboriginal experience!