Franklin Expedition fate re-examined through Inuit oral history

Book sheds new light on doomed quest for the Northwest Passage

Edna Elias interviews elder Leo Hummiqtuq as part of her work researching Inuit Qauijimajatuqangit, or Inuit traditional knowledge and oral tradition, to shed light on the Kitikmeot Inuit experience in the mid-19th century, when the doomed Franklin Expedition landed at King William Island. (Photo courtesy of Connie Gunn/Know History)

By Daron Letts

Inuit have always known what happened to the Franklin Expedition and a book set to be published next month takes a deep dive into their stories for the first time.

Two ships — HMS Erebus and HMS Terror — disappeared in 1845 while exploring the Northwest Passage, sparking a mystery that would endure for close to two centuries.

In 1850, after dispatching three search expeditions, the British government offered a reward of 10,000 British pounds (close to $3 million in today’s Canadian currency) for information leading to the discovery of the lost ships and their crew of 129 men.

The Erebus was located in 2014 and the Terror in 2016 with help from local Inuit. Nunavut’s closest community, Gjoa Haven, is about 125 kilometres from both wrecks.

This map shows the locations of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus ship wreck sites in Nunavut. (Image courtesy of Arctic Corridors Research)

The Land Was Always Used: An Inuit Oral History of the Franklin Expedition is due to be published Nov. 1 by the Nattilik Heritage Centre in Gjoa Haven. It documents the fate and folly of the doomed expedition led by the Napoleonic war veteran and Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin through the study of Inuit Qauijimajatuqangit, or Inuit traditional knowledge and oral tradition.

“This book is very much about the Inuit story,” said Connie Gunn, a writer with Know History, an Ottawa-based historical research company that worked with the heritage centre on the book.

“Just because Franklin and his men showed up and died here, it doesn’t mean Inuit life changed. Inuit have always been here and they are still here today.”

Gunn explained the book takes readers along the path Franklin’s men would have taken from where they abandoned their ships at the north end of King William Island to where the last of their remains were found, south of Gjoa Haven.

“But the way that you’re taken along this path is through the eyes of Inuit,” Gunn said.

“The stories about what the Inuit were doing when they were in the same area as Franklin’s men on the land or saw Franklin’s ships on the water. What was the importance of this area to Inuit?”

Edna Elias, a former commissioner of Nunavut, interviewed elders to gain knowledge passed down through oral tradition from the mid-19th century.

Although Inuit have worked with researchers for decades through a collaboration between the Arctic Research Foundation and Inuit Qauijimajatuqangit, this project marks the first time many elders have been invited to share their ancestors’ stories about the period.

“The elders were so sincere and happy to share their stories, finally,” Elias said.

“For years and years and years, they were told to keep it quiet or else the Qallunaat would come. We’d have an invasion en masse of Qallunaat once they found out that we know where the sunken ships were. So that was like a relief to them to finally tell these stories that they had suppressed in respect of their ancestors.”

Elias, raised in Kugluktuk, is related to many of the families around Gjoa Haven. She said one of the keys to tapping into the elders’ knowledge was maps.

“You put a map in front of an Inuk, they’ll tell stories for hours and hours,” she said. “We had lots of maps of the area — north, south, east, and west of King William Island, and even across to mainland Canada.”

The elders also shared stories about traditional hunting camps and place names.

“The map just doesn’t tell you latitude and longitude in the Inuit eyes,” she said.

After the manuscript was completed in 2021, Elias said the team went back to elders for an oral review of the document to ensure accuracy.

“Going back to the elders is really critical after the collection to authenticate their stories,” Elias said.

The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site of Canada was designated a national historic site in 1992.

The British government never made good on its £10,000 reward, but it did give Canada the remains of the two ships and most of the artifacts recovered over the past decade.

The Land Was Always Used: An Inuit Oral History of the Franklin Expedition is being published in two bilingual versions, one English and Inuktitut and one French and Inuktitut.

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(6) Comments:

  1. Posted by R. P. Dwyer at Gjoa Haven on

    I am confused by this story , is Connie Gunn saying she is the first person to ask Inuit
    people about Franklins Expedition ? ??
    About 50 years ago I and my wife interviewed about 20 different Inuit people about Franklin
    story.
    I marked locations on a good map, and along with a report sent it to Stu Hodgson, who was
    then Comishoner of NWT. He was happy with our work and involving Inuit people

    A good story is called ENCOUNTERS ON THE PASSAGE, INUIT MEET THE EXPLORERS,
    written by Dorothy Harley Eber (2008)

    Sir John Franklin had a very distinguished career in the British Navy, but met with his
    destiny at King William Island, Nunavut.
    TAI MUK

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    • Posted by alex on

      I think it’s not about the Inuit telling the story of what they know about the Franklin expedition so much as it them telling their stories about themselves during it.

      It’s obvious that Inuit have been asked about it in the pass as they have been the key to finding the lost ships.

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      • Posted by Kayak on

        The key to finding the lost ships were:
        1. The generous people who paid for the small search ship.
        2. The scientist who found the metal bracket from Erebus.
        3. Sam from Gjoa Haven, on board the search ship at Terror Bay.

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  2. Posted by Historical illiteracy on

    “Inuit have always been here and they are still here today.”

    This is just not reality, why do people say things like this?

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    • Posted by 2,000 years on

      Indeed. There’s a reason that Inuit are not considered a First Nations. They haven’t been here forever. Jesus lived and died before inuit conquered the canadian north.

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  3. Posted by Russell Potter on

    I would very much like to obtain a copy of this book — does your reporter know how one may be obtained?

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