Taissumani, Jan. 29

The Fate of Uisaakassak

KENN HARPER

Last week I told of Uisaakassak’s return from America and the reaction of his fellow Inuit to his accounts of life in New York.
When Knud Rasmussen visited north-western Greenland on an expedition in 1903, Uisaakassak was living in the rich hunting grounds of Inglefield Fiord with...

Taissumani, Jan. 22

Uisaakassak: The Big Liar

KENN HARPER

In 1897, Robert Peary took six Inuit from northern Greenland to the United States for exhibition in the American Museum of Natural History.
One of those was a young man named Uisaakassak. It had been decided that 12-year-old Aviaq, who was travelling to America with her parents,...

Taissumani, Jan. 15

More Thoughts on Polar Dark

KENN HARPER

Last week I described the terror experienced by Suersaq (Hans Hendrik) during the dark period of his first winter in the High Arctic among the Inughuit, the so-called Polar Eskimos.

But for the Polar Eskimos themselves, accustomed to living in high latitudes, the approach of the...

Taissumani, January 8

Light and Dark

Ivaluardjuk, an Iglulingmiut, told the explorer, Knud Rasmussen, about how light came to the world.

During the first period after the creation of the earth, all was darkness. Among the earliest living beings were the raven and the fox. One day they met and began talking.

“Let us keep the dark and...

Taissumani, Jan. 1

Returning Light

The HMS Resolute was a Franklin search expedition under the command of Captain Horatio Austin.

It left London in the company of three other ships on May 3, 1850 and entered Lancaster Sound in mid-August. In September all ships were beset in the ice north-east of Griffith Island and the crews...