Volume 9, 1956
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CONTENTS Vol. IX, 1956 NO.1 Meetings of the Arctic Circle 1 Officers and Committee members for 1956 1 Visit of Greenlanders to Baffin Island 2 An airborne magnetometer survey of the arctic islands I 1955 4 Legal concepts among the Caribou Eskimo 7 The Mace of the Council of the Northwest Territories 9 Anthropological studies among the Attawapiskat Indians 9 American Society of Polar Philatelists 10 Change of Address 10 Editorial Note 11 NO.2 Meetings of the Arctic Circle 12 "Operation Franklin", 1955 12 Visit of the National Research Council to northwestern Canada and the scientific work of the Council in the area 18 Northern activities of the Geodetic Survey I 1955 and 1956 21 Agreement between Canada and ;the United States on the establishment of a Distant Early Warning System in Canadian territory 23 Meeting of the Southern,.·Ontario Division, Canadian Association of Geographers 31 Change of Address 32 Editorial Note 32 NO.3 Lost and found - a report on a flight from Coppermine 33 Archaeological work on Southampton Island, 1956 39 The "Calanus" in Foxe Basin, 1955-6 . 41 Coats of Arms for the Yukon Territory and the Northwest - Territories 43 C •G.S. "Baffin" officially accepted by the Canadian Hydro graphic Service 45 • Appointment of a new Treasurer 46 Subscriptions for 1957 46 Editorial Note 47 NO.4 The International Geophysical Year 1957-8 48 Geological investigations in the arctic islands, 1956 55 Eastern Arctic Patrol, 1956 57 Meteorological r<tation at Sachs Harbour, Banks Island 59 Scandinavian archaeological expedition to Svalbard, 1955 60 Waterproof material for map9 61 Editorial Note 61 I THE ARCTIC CIRCULAR VOL. IX NO, 1 Published by The Arctic Circle 1956 Ottawa, Canada ------ The following meetings of the Arctic Circle have been held: Sixty-fourth Meetinll, 10 J anU2.ry 1956. The Annual General Meeting. The films "Wind from the West" and "The New Greenland" were shown. Sixty-fifth Meeting, 14 February 1956. "Operation Franklin", by Dr. Y.O. Fortier. Sixty-sixth Meeting, 13 Ma.rch 1956. "Norwegian, British, Swedish Antarctic Expedition, 1949-5Z" by Dr. E.F. Roots. Sixty-seventh Meeting, 10 April 1956. "Fisheries of the Great Slave Lake" by Dr, W. M. Sprules. Sixty-eighth Meeting, 8 May 1956. "A medical officer looks at the public health problem in the Eal3tern Arctic", by Dr. J.S. Willis. Officers and Committee members for 1956 President: Mr. J. Wyatt Vice-President: Dr. D.C. Rose Secretary: Mr. A. Stevenson Publica.tions Secretary: Mr. S.J. Murphy Treasurer: Mr, H.M. Cox I Editor: Mrs. G. W. Rowley rQ ------- - -""""'~~~"'''''~~ VOL. IX NO.1 THE ARCTIC CIRCULAR z Committee members Dr. A. W. F. Banfield Mrs. T,H. Manning Dr. R.G. Blackadar Mr. D.G, McCartney Mr. Trevor Harwood Mr. A. D. McLean Mr. J.A. Houston Mr. R. A. J. Fhillips Supt. H.A. Larsen, R.C.M,F. Mrs. A.G. Sangster WIC D.A. MacLulich, R.C.A.F. Mr. Harold Serson G/C K.C. Maclure, R.C.A.F. Mr. D. Snowden Mr. W.W. Mair Visit of Greenlanders to Baffin Island. By M. L. Manning. On 16 August 1956 the M. V. H.J. Rink, accompanied by the Royal Danish Naval Gunboat Skarven arrived at Cape Dyer, Baffin Island, from Godthaab, bringing the first party of Greenlanders to visit Canada. The purpose of the expedition was to give the Greenlanders an opportunity to study the life of the Eskimo in a small part of the Canadian Arctic in order to see how Eskimo lived traditionally and how this life changes when the people are in constant touch with southern civilization. On August 17 the party waS joined by Angnakadlak, a Canadian Eskimo who was to act as pilot of the expedition on the coast of Baffin Island, and by Mr. M.L. Manning, an officer of the Department of Northern Affairs. After refuelling and taking on fresh water and supplies the vessels left Cape Dyer later that day bound for Pangnirtung, approximately 300 miles away. Some ice was en countered but it did not hinder the ves s els and Fangnirtung was reached on the night of August 18. The party was welcomed by the Rev. B. Smith, the Anglican missionary, and Mrs. Smith, Corporal H.A. Johnson, R.C.M.P. I and Mr. and Mrs. R. Tingling of the Hudson's Bay Company. The following day being Sunday, the party attended service at the Anglican Mission church. In the afternoon a brief ceremony was ~.el<3. out-oi-doors during which Pangnirtung was made a friendship village of the town of Godthaab and gifts of a sealskin mat and two Eskimo dolls were presented to the visitors. During their stay at Pangnirtung the Greenlanders were entertained by the Eskimo and white people and they were able to record folklore and take photographs, r VOL. IX NO.1 THE ARCTIC CIRCULAR 3 On August 24 the vessels left Pangnirtung for Frobisher Bay, 360 miles away. The original pla.n was to visit native camps in Cumberland Sound on the way, but it had been learned at Pangnirtung that practically all the camp Eskimo had gone inland to hunt caribou, so the party decided to go direct to Frobisher. The weather was good in Cumberland Sound, but there was a very heavy s well running L'l Davi3 Strait a.nd a strong wind came up which gave the little vessel Rink rather a pounding. Frobisher Bay was reached on Sunday August 26. The Greenlanders spent one week at the new Eskimo townsite and lived in one of the Eskimo hous es, ea.t:ng ~heir meals in the carpenter1s mess hall. Unfortunately, one of the party, Knud Hertling, developed a bad cold after leaving Pangnirtung and on arrival at Frobisher had to remain in bed at the nursing station for five days. As at Pangnirtung, the visitors spent the time talking with the local Eskimo, gatnering iolklore, taking pictures, and fishing. They also visited the nuraing station, school, and some old Eskimo ruins. On the Sunday previous to their departure the Greenlanders attended a church service held by the local Eskimo. Later in the day they were presented with caribou antlers carved with scenes of Eskimo life by Angnakadlak on behalf of the Eskimo, and Mr. R. Griffiths gave them a square flipper mat from the Hudson's Bay Company. Mr. D. Wilkinsen, Northern Service Officer, spoke briefly, and Peter Nielsen replied saying how much they had enjoyed their visit and expressing a hope that some day not too far distant some Canadian Eskimo might visit Greenland. The party left for Godthaab on September 3 and arrived safely on the 6tn. The members of the Rink party were: Niels 11soe Captain Jasper Tausen Mate Svend Olsen Engineer Johan Jensen Cook Nathan Heinrich Deck hand Peter Nielsen Member of "Landsraad" (Greenland Council) Frederick Nielsen Teacher ami speclalist in language Robert Petersen Teacher and specialist in Eskimology Knud Hertling Graduate lawyer and Danish-Greenlandic F'r.:,Ush interpreter Uvdlorianguak Kristians en Reporter with Greenland radio VOL, IX NO.1 THE ARCTIC CmCULAR 4 An airborne magnetometer survey of the a ~ctic i ~lands. 1955 During the past eight years the Geological Survey of Canada has been engaged in airborne geophysical work, In the 1955 field season an airborne magnetometer and scintillation counter survey was made in the arctic islands. The object of this work was to test airborne methods in the area and to compare the results with those of Operation Franklin, the large helicopter supported Geological Survey field party working on the ground. Advance geological information was meagre, but from what was known and what was surmtsed by geologists of the Survey from a detailed study of air photographs. about 12,000 miles of flight lines were picked. Briefly stated, the airborne magnetometer analyses the fluctuations in the earth!s magnetic field which are directly related to the amount of magnetic material in the rock formations below, and the different structural formations can be delineated because of their varied magnetic content. The airborne magnetometer can therefore detect major geological features and give the approximate thickness ri. sedimentary rocks overlying the basement complex. A continuous record of the magnetic intensities is taken during flight. The scintillation counter determines the amount of structural radioactivity and this is also continuously recorded. It was decided to leave Ottawa between June 7 and June 15 in order to reach the Arctic at a time when the land was nearly free from snow. thus aiding ground-controlled navigation, and before the sea ice broke up when the open water would give rise to frequent fogs. All flights were planned to be flown at an elevation of 500 feet. Over areas of high relief and rugged topography, flying at this height presents problems relative to aircraft capability but certainly does not tend to become monotonous. Twenty-eight map sheets at a scale of 8 miles to 1 inch were required to cover the area over which the lines were to be flown. These were supplied by the Surveys and Mapping Branch of the Department of Mines and T"chnical Surveys: the latest editions were found to be satisfactory for the work, voth as to scale and detail, VOL. IX NO.1 THE ARCTIC CIRCULAR 5 The R.C.A.F. station at Resolute, Cornwallis Island, was used as the home base and the operation received wholehearted cooperation from all station personnel. In addition, the Air Services Branch of the DepartmEnt of Transport provided weather information and radio contact while the survey aircraft was airborne.