Arctic history lecture to touch on Nunavut’s 1st murder trial, other notable moments

Kenn Harper will be in Newfoundland and Labrador this month to speak about his career studying and writing about Arctic history, and some of the most interesting things he’s learned along the way.

“I’ve always known about it and thought, ‘What an honour if someday I could give the Bartlett lecture at Brigus,’ and lo and behold, this year they asked me if I would, so of course I jumped at the chance,” Harper said in an interview.

Harper, who has authored 11 books, is a longtime contributor to Nunatsiaq News through his Taissumani column on Arctic history.

The Bartlett lecture is hosted in Brigus, N.L., every other year by the Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland. The association invites academics, writers, historians, ship captains and others to share their experiences with Newfoundland history and northern exploration.

The lecture was named after Arctic navigator Capt. Bob Bartlett, who is from Brigus and spent many years navigating and mapping northern waters.

Harper’s lecture, scheduled for Sept. 14, is titled A Life in Arctic History.

“I spent a great 50 years living in the Arctic and a great chunk of my time there has been researching and writing northern stories,” he said.

“What I hope to do in the lecture is talk about myself a bit to give context to what I’m doing, then sort of thumbnail sketches of some of the more interesting stories I’ve delved in to.”

One of those stories is that of Minik Wallace, an Inuk who was brought from Greenland with five other Inuit to New York City in 1897 to be studied by the American Museum of Natural History.

Harper has written multiple books about Minik’s life, including Give Me My Father’s Body and Minik: The New York Eskimo.

Harper said he also plans to speak about Newfoundland trader Robert Janes, who was shot by an Inuk leader named Nuqalluq in 1920 during a trip to northern Baffin Island. Nuqallaq and two others were the accused in the first murder trial to take place in Nunavut, which occurred in Pond Inlet in 1923.

And then there is the woman Harper has referred to as the “most famous Inuk of all” — Nancy Helena Columbia Palmer, better known as Nancy Columbia.

Columbia was the daughter of a woman who was taken from Labrador to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1892. Columbia grew up to become the first Inuk screenwriter and starring actress with her silent film, The Way of the Eskimo.

Released in 1911, The Way of the Eskimo was marketed as a “romance enacted in the snowfields of Labrador.” It was positively reviewed at the time, but no copies of the film exist today.

Harper spent 50 years in the Arctic and speaks Inuktitut. He said the work he does is primarily for northerners and that he is looking forward to sharing what he’s learned over the years.

This year’s Bartlett lecture is the first to occur since 2019, after the program was disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Q&A with Harper is scheduled to follow the lecture. Tickets are free of charge.