Canada Paper No

,. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MAN MUSEE NATIONAL DE L'HOMME MERCURY SERIES COLLECTION MERCURE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY COMMISSION ARCHEOLOGIQUE OF CANADA PAPER NO. 131 DU CANADA DOSSIER N° 131 Effects of Nineteenth Century European Exploration on the Development of the Netsilik lnuit Culture by James M. Savelle -Reprinted from: THE FRANKLIN ERA IN CANADIAN ARCTIC HISTORY 1845 - 1859 Edited by Patricia D. Sutherland v y ¥ ? --<.- '~~~~~jlljl 'I' -~I\ l z-~~ .~~ ~ ~ -- -*- National Museums Musees nationaux I ...,.. of Canada du Canada Canada OTTAWA 1985 Courtesy Public Archives of Canada(C-1352) Not here: the white north hath thy bones, and thou Heroic Sailor Soul Art Passing on thy happier voyage now Toward no earthly pole. Alfred, Lord T enn~'lSon Epitaph !or Sir clohn Franklin ii EFFECTS OF NINETEENTH CENTtTHY EUROPEAN EXPLORATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NETSILIK INUIT CtTLTtTRE JamesM. Savelle Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta Abstract Nineteenth century European exploration in the BoothiaPeninsula-KingWilliamIsland-Adelaide Peninsula region resulted in little sustained direct contact with indigenous Netsilik Inuit, and the impact of direct explorerilnuit interaction on cultural developmentwas relatively minor. The abandonment of the Vict,-jr~) and associated materials in Lor-dMayor Bay in 1832 by John Ross, and the abandonment of the Erebus and Terr,-j]' and associated materials in the King William Island region by surviving membersof the Sir John Franklin expedition in 1848, however, introduced vast quantities of potentially saIvable rare and exotic materials such as iron, copper, tin and wood.Recent archaeologicalinvestigations and museumresearch designed to determine the nature and extent of the post-abandonment utilization of this material are discussed. Whileconfirming previous reports of substantial utilization, the results, when int~grated with relevant data from ethnohistorical literature, also suggest that this utilization resulted in significant changes in intra- and intergroup relationships. R~sum~ L'exploration europeenne dans la region de la presqu'l1e de Boothia, de l'l1e King William et de la presqu'iJe Adelaide au Xme siec!e n'entraina que peu de contacts directs soutenus avec les lnuit Netsilik, et l'incidence de contacts directs entre les explorateurs et les lnuit sur le developpement culturel fut relativement faible. L'abandon par John Ross du Victor~) et de son materiel en 1832 dans la hie Lord Mayor, et l'abandon en 1848 de I'Erebus et du T eJ"J"{.jret de leur materiel dans la region de l'l1e King William par les membres survivants de l'expedition de Sir John Franklin, introduisit toutefois de vastes quantites de materiaux rares et exotiques pouvant etre recuperes, notamment du fer, du cuivre, de l'etain et du bois. Il est question de proceder a des fouilles archeologiques et a des recherches museologiquesen vue de determiner la nature et l'importance de l'utilisation de ces objets apres leur abandon. Tout en confirmant des rapports anterieurs evoquant une utilisation substantielle, les resultats, si on les integre aux donnees pertinentes des ouvrages ethno-historiques, sugg~rent une utilisation qui entraina des changements importants dans les relations entre les groupes, et a l'interieur de ces derniers. 192 EUROPEAN EXPLORATION AND NETSELIK INUIT CULTURE Introduction: of the North-west Passage -- the first In recent years, ethnohistorical and ethnographic study was conducted by Knud archaeological research has shown that Rasmussen in 1923 (Rasmussen 1927, 1931). European contact, either directly or More recent studies include those by Balikci indirectly, had significantly altered many (1964, 1970, 1984) and Damas (1968, 1969). Canadian Inuit societies prior to the first During the century prior to Rasmussen's detailed ethnographic studies relating to investigations, a number of European and them (e.g. Ross 1975,1980,Jordan and Kaplan Euroamerican expeditions had entered the 1980; Hickey 1984; see also Trigger 1981). area (Table i), and although several had These studies have important implications direct contact with indigenous Inuit groups, since such. societies, as first described by the effects on cultural development appear ethnographers, have come to occupy a to have been minimal. Indirect contact, unique place in anthropological literature however, in the form of the introduction ~ as representative of "pristine" Inuit culture. of large quantities of rare and exotic As a result, they have figured prominently mati!rials such as iron, copper, tin and wood in acculturation studies, cross-cultural following the abandonment of ships and comparisons, and in general models of large caches, appears to have had hunter-gatherer societies. considerable impact. Two expeditions are of For Inuit groups inhabiting the Boothia particular importance in this regard: that Peninsula, King William Island and Adelaide of John Ross in 1829-33, and that of Sir Peninsula region -- the central "link" John Franklin in 1845-48. Table 1: Expeditions into the Boothia Peninsula-King William Island-Adelaide Peninsula region between 1829 and 1923. E:xpedition Leader<.s) Date Reference Ross 1829-33 Ross1835,Huish1835 Back 1833-35 Back1836,King1836 DeaseandSimpson 1837-39 Simpson1843 Franklin 1845-48 Cvriax 1939 Rae 1846-47 Rae1850 Rae 1853-54 Rae1855 AndersonandStewart 1855 Anderson1856,1857 HcClintock 1857-59 HcClintock1859 Hall 1864-69 Nourse1879 Schwatka 1878-80 Gilder1881,Stackpole1965 Amundsen 1903-06 Amundsen1908 Rasmussen 1921-24 Rasmussen1927,1931 193 VICTORIA ~. BOOTH lA ISLAND PENINSULA FRANKLlN ~ ROSS 1848 .. 1832 ~ IS) ~. 0 ., .. d '<t 0- 'u ..... MELVILLE \ PENINSULA 0 km 200 (iI ..:I ..:I (iI :> ~ (J) Figure 1: Locations of abandoned ships (triangles) and other materials (hexagons) from ~ ItI the expeditions of John Ross (1829-33) and Sir John Franklin (1845-48) in the central (iI Canadian Arctic. X ~ '"J EUROPEAN EXPLORATION AND NETSELII< INUIT CULTURE The Ross expedition spent three years, In 1848,16 years after the abandonment 1829-32, in the Lord Mayor Bay area on the of the Victo~) and associated materials, the east coast of Boothia Peninsula. Ross had Erebus and Terror were abandoned considerable difficulty with the steam northwest of King William Island by the engine of the expedition ship Victo~), and survi ving members of the Franklin ex- abandoned most parts of the engine at Felix pedition. Probably by no later than the Harbour in 1830. The expedition spent the autumn of the same year, ships' boats, first winter at Felix Harbour, the second various supplies, and ultimately human winter at Sheriff Harbour (approximately corpses, were scattered along the west and 5 kilometers to the northeast), and the south coasts of King William Island and third winter at Victoria Harbour (app- along the north coast of Adelaide Peninsula. roximately 20 kilometers northeast of At least one of the abandoned ships app- Sheriff Harbour. The Victo~) itself, along arently drifted to the vicinity of O'Reilly with a smaller launch, the Krusenstern, and Island. a stores depot, were abandoned at Victoria Harbour in 1832. Ross spent the fourth The locations of abandoned ships and winter of the expedition at Fury Beach on known or probable locations of substantial Somerset Island, and was finally rescued by quantities of other abandoned materials the whaler lsabella in August 1833 north from the Ross and Franklin expeditions are of Baffin Island. shown in Figure 1. The remainder of this Figure 2: Remains of Victo~'s engine parts on McDiarmid's Island, Felix Harbour. 195 J AMES M. SA VELLE paper will briefly describe recent arch- source of iron. Evidence of Inuit "quarrying" aeological and museum research which was or "mining" of the iron is considerable, with designed to determine the effects of the substantial quantities of debris resulting introduction of this abandoned material on from hammering and chipping of the the indigenous Inuit groups, in particular material occurring in association (Figure 4). the Netsilik Inuit, and will summarize the results of these investigations. Victoria Harbour: Ross abandoned the Victor~ while it was frozen in the ice in the harbour, but left the Krusenstern and Archaeological Investigations various stores well up on the shore of the Archaeological investigations in north side of the harbour (Ross 1835:641, connection with the project were conducted PI. 26). In addition, a number of scientific in 1980, 1981 and 1982. The 1980 field instruments were concealed in a "tunnel" research concentrated primarily on foot (trench?), possibly on the north shore of and helicopter surveys of selected areas of the harbour (Ross 1835: 643) or in a series ~ Somerset and Prince of Wales islands and of stone caches (Huish 1835). The Victor:; neigh boring smaller islands, in an attempt apparently remained in the harbour for two to determine the nature and extent of years following its subsequent discovery by nineteenth century Inuit occupations in the Netsilik Inuit (Gibson 1929). region and the relationships of such Victoria Harbour has been a popular occupations to European exploration. The collecting locality for Arctic history results suggested that such occupations enthusiasts for a number of years, and were very restricted and that nineteenth consequently the original patterns of debris century European presence in this area, distribution are difficult to determine. both direct and indirect, elicited little However, judging from other collections response from the Netsilik Inuit to the examined

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