Taissumani columnist to launch collection of stories

Kenn Harper’s columns have been compiled in a new book, called In Those Days: Collected Writings on Arctic History Book 1.

Readers of Nunatsiaq News have followed the amazing lives of some of the most famous — and lesser-known — Inuit in history through Kenn Harper’s weekly column Taissumani.

The best of Harper’s work has now been compiled into a book entitled In Those Days: Collected Writings on Arctic History Book 1, published by Inhabit Media.

In the collection, Harper shares the remarkable life stories of many Inuit from early contact times to the modern era.

The collection includes the story of Charles Francis Hall’s Polaris Expedition disaster of 1871, when 19 people survived on open ice for more than six months, thanks to the help of Greenlander Hans Hendrik and two Inuit hunters from the south Baffin area, Tookoolito and Ipiirivik, also known as Hannah and Joe.

Also included are the stories of Nancy Columbia, the belle of the Seattle World’s Fair and the best-known Inuk of her time, as well as a piece about John Sakeouse, whose kayak feats in the early 1800s created a sensation in Scotland.

The public is welcome to attend the launch of In Those Days Feb. 8 at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.