Mike Bell

Mike Bell is a retired management consultant. He lived in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and worked for 28 years with Inuit communities on Baffin Island in the High Arctic and with Dene (First Nation) communities in the Western Arctic.

Thomas Berry’s insights into indigenous cultures and shamanism were indispensable for Mike’s work in the Canadian Arctic. He first met Berry when they were both members of the Passionist monastic community.

Mike retired in 2006. He and his wife, Arlene, moved to Comox, British Columbia. Mike has MAs in theology from Ottawa University and in communications from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Mike Bell in Kosmos

Baptism of Fire

“He was a gaunt looking character, tall and thin. He had one of those long brown greatcoats like you see the defeated German troops wearing in the films as they retreat from Stalingrad. He had a sort of pilot hat with padded ear flaps, white arctic boots, and a rucksack on his back. I could only guess at his age.”

Published in Volume 22 Issue 1

Coming Soon

The Village Way

Practices for Belonging in a Fragmented World

For thousands of years, we lived according to the principles of village life. Then, around the 14th Century, our lives were reorganized by rulers around growth and accumulation – often at the cost of community, equity, and the living Earth. What would it mean to return to simplicity, and mutual care?

Join us for a 9-month inquiry into this question, exploring how we participate together in a time that calls us back to community, resilience, and shared life,