August 26,
2005
Taissumani: A Day
in Arctic History
August 29, 1871 - Hall Names Hans Island
Canada and Denmark have agreed to disagree for now over the ownership of Hans
Island, a tiny speck of rock in Kennedy Channel midway between Canada and Greenland.
The dispute over ownership of the island dates back to 1973 when the border
between Canada and Greenland was drawn. At the time the two parties agreed to
interrupt the border at the low water mark at the south end of the island and
recommence it at the low water mark at the north end of the island.
And there the matter remained until 1984 when I wrote an article in the newspaper,
Hainang, published monthly in the community of Qaanaaq, 350 kilometres to the
south of Hans Island.
The previous fall I had met a scientist from Dome Petroleum, a now-defunct
Canadian oil company, who had spent the summer on the island doing research
on the pressure exerted by multi-year ice hitting the island, information that
it hoped to use in constructing artificial islands from which to drill for oil
in the Beaufort Sea.
Dome's occupation of the island was in contravention of an agreement that both
Denmark and Canada would avoid acts which might prejudice future negotiations
over the island's ownership. In fact, Dome Petroleum had not conferred with
Canada's Department of External Affairs over the use of the island, and may
not even have known that its ownership was in dispute.
My article, in a little-known newspaper in an isolated corner of Greenland,
was picked up by an influential Danish paper, noticed by the Canadian Embassy
in Copenhagen, and then picked up by CBC radio. Hans Island had its first fleeting
moment of fame.
After my article on Hans Island appeared in the Greenlandic and Danish press,
Tom Høyem, the Danish minister for Greenland, chartered a helicopter
from Thule Air Base to the island and raised a Danish flag, leaving a bottle
of Denmark's finest schnapps at its base. This gesture has recently been reciprocated,
leading to bottles of Canadian whiskey and Danish schnapps alternately taking
their temporary places at the base of flags, erected by one side and removed
by the other, in what threatens to become "the battle of the bottles."
What Minister Høyem never knew, in 1984, was that the Danish helicopter
pilot who flew him to the island retrieved the famous bottle of schnapps on
his next trip to the area, and celebrated its rescue by drinking it with his
colleagues back at the base.
In 2004, the press had a flurry of interest in Hans Island, and there the matter
lay until Canada's defence minister landed there a few weeks ago. Since that
"invasion," Canada has claimed that the island is Canada's by virtue
of Britain's discovery of it. The only problem with that is that the British
had no part in its discovery. It was discovered by Americans.
In 1871, Charles Francis Hall launched his third Arctic expedition, the Polaris
Expedition, an ambitious attempt to reach the North Pole by ship. On August
29, as the Polaris was labouring northward through the ice of Kennedy Channel,
the crew noticed a tiny island smack-dab in the middle of the channel. Hall
named it Hans Island, after Hans Hendrik, a Greenlandic guide traveling with
the expedition. (I wrote about his life in this column a few weeks ago.)
He had been close to the island almost 20 years earlier while traveling as
guide and assistant for Elisha Kent Kane, another American explorer. On Kane's
expedition, nearby Crozier and Franklin islands were named but apparently the
diminutive Hans Island escaped detection. But in 1871, Hall saw it and named
it, putting it on the map for the first time. Unfortunately for the Canadian
claim, the first British expedition to the area, under George Nares, did not
arrive until 1875.
Canada's claim is further weakened by the fact that Canadian Inuit have never
used the island and know nothing about it other than what they have read in
the newspapers. Canadian Inuit did not live on Ellesmere Island in historical
times, until 1953. Even since that date, the people of Grise Fiord have never
hunted anywhere near Hans Island. The Inughuit, on the other hand (and on the
other coast), have traditionally used the area and have an Inuit name for it,
Tartupaluk, which describes its kidney-like shape. They have never lived on
this barren rock, but have used it as a vantage point from which to ascertain
ice conditions and spot polar bears.
As part of the homeland of the Inughuit, Tartupaluk - Hans Ø in Danish
- should be recognized as part of Greenland and therefore a part of the Danish
kingdom.
Taissumani: A Day
in Arctic History recounts
a specific event of historic interest, whose anniversary is in the coming week.
Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback?
Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.
August 19,
2005
Taissumani: A Day
in Arctic History
August 22, 1917 - The Trial of Sinnisiak and Uluksuk (Part Two)
On Aug. 14, 1917, after
deliberating for little more than an hour, a jury in Edmonton had acquitted
an Inuk from the Arctic coast, Sinnisiak, of the murder of a Catholic priest,
Father Rouvière. The Crown counsel and the judge were outraged. They
felt the jury had been unduly influenced by public sentiment. The prosecutor
even suggested that some jurors held an anti-Catholic bias and were reluctant
to find guilty the killer of a priest.
But the Crown had only
charged Sinnisiak with one murder. They had saved another charge in the event
of just such an acquittal. The Crown now filed charges of murder against Sinnisiak
and Uluksuk, another Inuk from the Coppermine River area, jointly, for the murder
of Father LeRoux. The crown also applied for a change of venue, claiming there
was prejudice in Edmonton against the prosecution. The judge agreed. The second
trial commenced on Aug. 22 in Calgary.
The argument this time
boiled down to a question of whether the justice system should be used as a
tool of government policy. The Crown insisted that the Inuit should be convicted,
but that the mandatory death sentence be commuted and that they be sent back
to live among their own people as examples of the mercy of the British justice
system, and to spread some of the new ideas they had learned while in "civilization."
The defence counsel found
the idea of a guaranteed committal offensive. He thought it was an incentive
for the jury to find the men guilty, knowing that they would not be put to death.
He reasoned, "If these men are guilty of murder, they should be found guilty
of murder and should pay the extreme penalty. If these men are not guilty of
murder, then they should be sent to their homes, free. Either they are guilty
or they are not guilty. There is no half way measure."
On the matter of possible
commutation, he said, "But I say to you that this is a matter which you
should not take into consideration at all, that because a man may not be severely
punished is no reason why he should be found guilty if he is not guilty... I
say that if your verdict puts any punishment upon men for reasons of supposed
policy or any other reasons other than the fact that the men are, in your judgment,
guilty, then I say that that is persecution and not justice."
But the Crown persevered
in the argument that the defence found so reprehensible. The prosecutor responded,
"While I submit with some confidence that the evidence not only justifies
but requires a verdict of murder, and on this verdict sentence of death must
be passed, it seems to me the ideal thing that this sentence should be commuted
to imprisonment for a short term of years. The Government is anxious, as we
all can understand, to establish friendly relations with the Eskimo... The Eskimo
should be made to realize the white man's justice; he should also be taught
that stern justice may, in a proper case, be tempered with mercy. If these men
are sent back and imprisoned in the Far North they will be a living object lesson,
and they will be able to spread among the tribes of the Arctic the knowledge
they have acquired in civilization including some idea, at least, of British
law and justice."
This time the prosecution
got what it wanted. The jury was out for only forty-six minutes and returned
with a verdict finding both men guilty of murder, but with a strong recommendation
for clemency.
Judge Harvey passed sentence
several days later in Edmonton. The law allowed no sentence other than the death
penalty. Accordingly, the judge sentenced both men to death by hanging on Oct.
15. He explained, through the 17-year-old half-Inuit interpreter, Patsy Klengenberg,
that the Minister "authorizes me to state the sentence will be commuted."
The death sentences of
Sinnisiak and Uluksuk were commuted to life imprisonment at the police detachment
in Fort Resolution. They were not confined, but did odd jobs around the post.
The police report for 1919 described them as model prisoners.
In May of that year, they
were released from custody. Eventually they returned to their homes, well-off
in material goods but, according to the police, arrogant. Uluksuk, in fact,
became troublesome again, bullied other natives, and was said to be a thief.
In 1924 he was killed by another Inuk, Ikayena. Sinnisiak died in 1930.
Taissumani: A Day
in Arctic History recounts
a specific event of historic interest, whose anniversary is in the coming week.
Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback?
Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.
August 12,
2005
Taissumani: A Day
in Arctic History
August 14, 1917 - The First Trial of Sinnisiak
In the summer of 1913 two missionaries, Father Jean-Baptiste Rouvière,
an Oblate who had served four years among the Dogrib and Hareskin Indians at
Fort Good Hope, and Father Guillaume LeRoux, a man described as highly educated,
a gentleman and a philosopher, but given to frequent expressions of hot temper,
left the Roman Catholic mission at Fort Norman on the Mackenzie River to go
northeast to proselytize among the Inuit of the Arctic coast.
When the priests were never heard from again, and reports began to reach Fort
Norman that Inuit had been seen wearing priests' cassocks, it was feared that
the two men had been murdered. Catholic authorities requested that the police
investigate. In June of 1915 Inspector Charles Deering ("Denny") LaNauze,
set out to do so. He was accompanied by two constables and an Inuit interpreter,
Ilavinik, who was made a special constable for the investigation.
In fact, the two priests had been murdered in November of 1913, only a few
months after leaving Fort Norman. An elder of the Copper Inuit, Koeha, described
the events for Denny LaNauze. Other Inuit also recounted their version of the
events, but with considerable hesitation. They were frightened because John
Hornby, another white man who had traveled through their land, had once told
them that if they killed a white man, others would return and kill them all.
In the spring of 1916, LaNauze finally arrested the two suspects, Sinnisiak
and Uluksuk, without resistance, at Coronation Gulf. Sinnisiak voluntarily gave
a statement.
The two Inuit had followed the priests as they headed from Coronation Gulf
back inland to their winter camp. Eventually they caught up with them and travelled
with them for some distance. Ilagoak (the Inuit name for LeRoux, the volatile
priest) was carrying a rifle and the Inuit thought he was angry with them and
became convinced that he was going to kill them. When Uluksuk and Sinnisiak
tried to talk with each other, LeRoux objected and put his hand over Sinnisiak's
mouth. The priest pushed Sinnisiak, and the man became frightened.
Both Inuit wanted to abandon the priests and turn back but LeRoux would not
hear of it. After another altercation between the priest and Sinnisiak, involving
more pushing and shoving by the priest, Sinnisiak acted. He stabbed LeRoux,
but Uluksuk completed the killing. Kuleavik (Rouvière) ran, whether to
get a gun or simply to flee, the Inuit were not certain, but he had handed LeRoux
a rifle earlier, which caused the Inuit to mistrust him despite his previous
gentle nature. Sinnisiak shot him from behind. Uluksuk stabbed him in the side
and Sinnisiak finished the job with an axe. Then the Inuit each ate a piece
of LeRoux's liver. It was apparent that the Inuit had killed the priests because
they feared for their own lives.
The trial began on Aug. 14, 1917 in Edmonton. But the Crown had a surprise
in store for the defence. They tried only Sinnisiak, and only for the murder
of Father Rouvière. It was a trial by a jury of six.
The Crown counsel, McCaul, made it clear in his lengthy introduction that this
was no ordinary murder trial, but one intended to extend the reach of Canadian
law to the remotest part of the country. But he spoiled his otherwise brilliant
address when it became clear that his real purpose was to make the Arctic safe
for white men.
Sinnisiak, uncomprehending and dressed in skin clothing, as befitted a show
trial, fell asleep during McCaul's lengthy address. Bizarrely, a tub of ice
water had been placed near him, so that he could dip his feet in it whenever
he needed to cool off.
The defence argued for acquittal on the grounds that the Inuk knew nothing
of the white man's law and should not be judged by it, and that he had acted
in self-defence, thinking he was about to be killed by the priest. Chief Justice
Harvey, in his charge to the jury, argued against acquittal. But the unexpected
happened. The jury deliberated for little more than an hour, and came back with
a verdict of not guilty. Sinnisiak, confused, blurted out, "It is not true.
I did kill him." The trial had lasted four days.
The Crown counsel and the judge were outraged. They felt the jury had been
influenced by a sympathetic local press and by public sentiment. McCaul even
suggested that some jurors held an anti-Catholic bias and were reluctant to
find guilty the killer of a priest.
But the Crown had an ace to play. Sinnisiak had been charged and acquitted
only of the murder of Father Rouvière. They now filed charges of murder
against both Sinnisiak and Uluksuk jointly for the murder of LeRoux. The Crown
also applied before the same judge for a change of venue, claiming there was
prejudice in Edmonton against the prosecution. The judge agreed. The new trial
would commence on Aug. 22 in Calgary.
(Continued next week.)
Taissumani: A Day
in Arctic History recounts
a specific event of historic interest, whose anniversary is in the coming week.
Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback?
Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.
August 5, 2005
Taissumani: A Day
in Arctic History
August 11, 1889 - The Death of Hans Hendrik
Hans Hendrik, the Greenlander after whom Hans Island is named.
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With Hans Island once again in the news following Defence Minister Bill Graham's
unwarranted and unannounced visit to the Danish island in the far north, it
seems an opportune time to tell about the Greenlandic guide after whom the island
is named.
Hans Hendrik was born in Fiskenaesset on the west coast of Greenland about
1834, and educated there by Moravian missionaries. His native name was Suersaq.
When he was only 19, Hendrik was hired by Elisha Kent Kane, the U.S. explorer,
to go north with him on the Second Grinnell Expedition in search of Sir John
Franklin. That expedition spent two winters on Kane's vessel, the Advance, at
Rensselaer Harbour in northwestern Greenland. Hendrik and William Morton made
a sledge journey even farther north and discovered Kennedy Channel, although
they apparently did not name the tiny island which today bears Hendrik's first
name - perhaps they didn't see it.
Hendrik had been born south of the Arctic Circle where the sun doesn't completely
disappear in the winter. His first winter with Kane was also his first experience
of the mid-winter dark of the High Arctic. He described it this way:
"Then it really grew winter and dreadfully cold, and the sky speedily
darkened. Never had I seen the dark season like this, to be sure it was awful.
I thought we should have no daylight any more. I was seized with fright, and
fell a-weeping. I never in my life saw such darkness at noon time. As the darkness
continued for three months, I really believed we should have no daylight more."
Kane praised Hendrik's abilities. When many of the crew were sick or injured,
Kane wrote, "If Hans gives way, God help us." But Hendrik didn't give
way; instead he ran away, apparently afraid of Kane. He remained with the Inuit
of the district for some years, taking an Inughuit woman as his wife.
In 1860, Isaac Israel Hayes hired Hendrik at Cape York as a hunter for his
expedition, which wintered at Foulke Fjord on the Greenland coast. Unlike Kane,
Hayes did not like Hendrik, and even blamed him for the deaths of two expedition
members. He described Hendrik as "a type of the worst phase of the Esquimau
character."
In the summer of 1861, Hendrik moved south to the Upernavik region, where he
worked for the Royal Greenland Trade Department. Ten years later another American,
Charles Francis Hall, launched an expedition to the North Pole by ship. He hired
Hendrik as a hunter and guide, and took him, his wife, and three children north
on the Polaris. On the way north through Kennedy Channel, Hall noticed an island
that was not on the maps that had been made by Kane. It was a tiny island mid-way
between Ellesmere Island and the Greenland coast; Hall named it "Hans Island"
after his hunter and guide.
Hall died on that expedition. In the fall of 1872, with the Polaris out of
its winter harbour and heading south, a storm arose and a party of 19 people,
including Hendrik and his family, took to the ice with their belongings, fearing
that the ship would sink. They drifted on the ice floe for six months, from
northwestern Greenland to just north of Newfoundland. No-one died on this amazing
drift. Everyone owed their survival to Hendrik and to Ipiirvik, an Inuk from
Baffin Island. They both hunted sea mammals by kayak from their floating home.
After some time in Washington, where an inquiry was conducted into the Polaris
expedition, Hendrik returned to Upernavik, to his former job with the trade
department. But in 1875 he joined one more High Arctic expedition, this time
a British one under George Nares. That expedition wintered in northeastern Ellesmere
Island. Nares wrote that "all speak in the highest terms of Hans."
The following year he moved to Godhavn on Disko Bay, Greenland, and again worked
for the trade department. In 1883 he participated in one final expedition, this
one a Danish venture which explored part of the west coast of Greenland. He
died peacefully at his home in Godhavn, on August 11, 1889, aged 55.
Hendrik was one of many Inuit employed by arctic expeditions to fill the role
of hunter, guide and sledge-driver. In this he was not unique. But Hendrik was
the only one to write his own life story and have it published. It was an account
of his life through to the end of the Nares expedition. He wrote it in Greenlandic
and it was serialized in the newspaper, Atuagagdliutit. Heinrich Rink, a Danish
geologist and colonial administrator, translated it into English and it was
published in 1878 under the title "Memoirs of Hans Hendrik, the Arctic
Traveller." It is an extremely rare book today, a unique document chronicling
the life of a well-travelled Greenlander.
Taissumani: A Day
in Arctic History recounts
a specific event of historic interest, whose anniversary is in the coming week.
Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback?
Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.
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