The Sun, 13 July 1987
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Anaukaq HensonfLE^sloniG^tosKitjfc-Jf. •. ,M Jso * T n of black explorer from Scandinavian colleagues- 'i^ Anaukaq Henson, the Eskimo J son of Maryland-bom Matthew Hen- *"•"* — "wanted to travel"^ Anaukaq Henson nal push to the North Pole: When the son. the black man who accompa- expedition was within striking dis- nied Commander Robert E. Peary on they were Henson's d "•'• Anaukaq Henson, an Eskimo who tance of the pole in April 1909, why the pair's pioneer exploration of the| said he gras the son of Maryland- had Commander Perry ordered five North Pole In 1909, died June 25 at born polar explorer Matthew Hen- lite explorers to stay behind while his home In northwest Greenland at $m»jmmwmAs Dr. Counter and an lnterpre£Tson, died June 25 at his home in heNjid Matthew Henson pressed on theageof8O. A> SON •-,.. ", er walkeurall/^d) througtU^.^1h. thti e gaanaa*-i q vi.1*l1 northwes•• t. Greenlan« « d« at* th-•» e age o-f• to theSfinal destination? ' His death came less than a lage on Greenland's Inglefield jBfflg last August, a dark-skinned Eskimo* Counter month' after he visited the birth '••• His death . came less than a said, he fohnd what he considered place of his father In the Charles man came out of his house County town of Nanjemoy. Mr. Hen- dared, "You must be [a] Henson and month after he visited the Charles at least parnof the equation." The son, whose trip to the United States vnu've come looking for me." ' ' - - County birthplace of Matthew Hen- professor had fifc6t heard of a dark- to see his relatives also took him to son, the black man who accompa- skinned race of EsWnos called "Kul- Cambridge, Mass., told hosts there nied Cmdr. Robert E. Peary on the nocktoto" from Scandinavian col- before he left that he had completed pioneer exploration of the North! leagues in 1977 and >£ wanted to his mission In life. He said he was Pole in 1909. Mr. Henson said before travel to Greenland to\xplore the going home to die and to sleep next leaving the United States that he had possibility that they wereSMatthew to his wife, Aviaq, who is buried on a completed his mission in life. He Henson's descendants. hill overlooking their native settle- said he was going home to die and be As Professor Counter and ^j in-1 buried next to his wife, Aviaq, on a m( terpreter walked through the On the^llay- A SedrMY. Henson hill overlooking their native settle- naaq village on Greenland's Inglfe took a brisk walk through the settle- ment^JUL^ 3"i987^ field Bay last August, a dark-skinned 1 ment, returned to his dwelling, lay \ Early ..last month, Mr. Henson Eskimo man came out of his house | down and said he was "ready to go." and • Karree. Peary, a Eskimo who Early last month Mr. Henson and and declared, "You must be [a] Hen- said he isvthe son of Robert Peary, son and you've come looking for Karree Peary, another aged Eskimo met Commander's Peary's Ameri- from Northern Greenland, visited a can descendants in New York and me." JUL 1 B ' wooded area of Southern Maryland a Boston, visited Matthew Henson's Professor Counter'^wno is black, ] few miles from the warm currents of burial place in Woodlawn Cemetery realized the man's assumption was j the Potomac. River, tracing their in New York,' attended a dinner and based on the color of his skin. The family roots. *. .*•-. • ;' • i reception at.Harvard University and smiling Eskimo turned out to be -The two pilgrims, who said they laid a wreath at Commander Pea- Anaukaq Henson. In a village 90 were the illegitimate sons of the ry's grave in. Washington's Arlington miles north of Qaanaaq, Professor famed North Pole explorers, were National Cemetery. > : ?; ;-^i;^-. -: Counter found Karree Peary, the seeking the foundations of the elder man who said he was a Peary de- Mr. Henson's ••birthplace in the 1 , Last yearns! Allen Counter, di- scendant. JUL 13 1987 U£ woods near the small community of The two explorers, Trofessor Nanjemoy In the southwestern cor- rector of the 'Harvard Foundation, ner of the county. •;; ?• V.'. •. traveled to Greenland to solve a puz- Counter reasoned, had shared a se- • The visit was part of a Journey zle that had been bothering histori- cret. During their six attempts to undertaken by a dozen or so North- ans ever since-Commander Peary conquer <the Pole, they had fathered em Greenland natives in which they and Matthew Henson made their fi- Eskimo children. MBlilJi.q SWi met Peary's American descendants in New York and Boston, visited Henson's burial place in Woodlawn Cemetery In New York, attended a dinner and reception at Harvard University and laid a wreath at Pea- ry's grave In Washington's Arling- ton National Cemetery. ln Maryland, the Charles County Commissioners gathered at the county courthouse, where they pre- sented Mr. Henson and the rest of |j the_ylsitlng members of the Henson and Peary clans with plaques and flags. A variety of politicians took the opportunity to laud the famed black ^ explorer, the elder Henson. j SU" I The Henson and Peary clans of | Greenland were an Arctic legacy left | behind by the explorers after their g Journey to the top of the world in 1909. But It was only last year that Dr. S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation, traveled to Greenland to solve a puzzle that had been_bothertn£jjt8tQrlans_excr-S]nce Peary and Henson made their final push to the North Pole: When the expedition was within striking dis- tance of the pole In April 1909, why had Perry ordered five white explor- ers to stay behind while he and Hen- son pressed on to the final destina- °Last year, W'CounW said, he found what he considered "at least ilpart of the equation." The professor.