Drawing on notions of the modern pilgrim and postmodern tourist, this paper explores the discursive resources concerning women, travel, and transience as they apply to female teachers working in the Canadian north. In particular, it traces the discourses evident in the talk of twenty-five women teachers currently working in northern First Nations (indigenous) education. Although both were invoked, neither the postmodern teacher-tourist nor the modernist pilgrim-teacher were easily mapped onto the positioning of the 'woman' teacher. Alternative discourses of the female teacher need to be developed to organize the work of women teachers who come to teach in the Canadian north or indeed any site of minority or multicultural education.