If you visit Westminster Abbey you will find a a marble bust of Sir John Franklin on which is inscribed "the discoverer of the North West Passage", and not far away at Waterloo Place you will find a statue which proclaims the same. Also inscribed on the bust is the addition that " here also is commemorated Admiral Sir Leopold McClintock (discoverer of the fate of Franklin in 1859 "
I have learnt a lot in the past few weeks about the quest for the North West passage, the search for Franklin and the Artic journeys that took place in the early- mid 19th century, both from my paddling companions and also the book 'Fatal Passage' by Ken McGoogan - a gripping read. Incidentally, Sir John Barrow ( the Hoad in Ulverston is a monument to him ) was a leading figure in the 1840's who were obsessive in pushing the drive for the NW Passage.
The book is definitely worth a read but the short version is that John Rae, born in the rugged Orkney Islands of northern Scotland, in 1854, actually discovered both. He is considered by many to be the greatest Artic explorer of them all. He was the first to afford the local Inuit and Native Americans the respect which they deserved and in contrast to ( I think I can say ) every other explorer before him ( and many that went after ) adopted their ways of living in order to adapt to the harsh conditions in which they lived. When he returned to England after discovering what had happened to Franklin (and the missing link in the NWP) he told the truth. His investigations ( later proved correct by science ) led him to report that the last remaining survivors had resorted to Cannibalism in order to survive. However, Franklin's wife, one of the most influential people in this era was not about to have her husbands name tainted and with the help of Charles Dickins set about a campaign of denial and vilification against John Rae.
The book tells the story much better than I can and definitely worth a read.
The Coronation Gulf
You may recognise the above figure - an 'Inukshuk' - since it was the symbol of the Olympic Games in Vancouver. The original Inukshuk are figures of stone erected by Inuit and are unique to the Canadian Artic. In some places the traditional meaning was to act as compass or guide for safe passage. Today they have been adopted as symbols for such things as leadership, friendship, safety & nourishment, trust & reassurance.
The Inukshuk historically guided people over frozen tundra and gave them hope in barren places to handle the difficulties they encountered.
"May the Inukshuk be your guide for a safe journey throughout life's travels
May it always guide you home"
Kugluktuk
Kugluktuk is the small Inuit hamlet on the Coronation Gulf and where we finished our trip. Formerly known as Coppermine, it was renamed Kugluktuk when the area of the North West Territories - now Nunuvat - was handed back to the Inuit people. Kugluktuk means 'place of the falls' - after Bloody Falls on the Coppermine River.
Now Kugluktuk has got its fair share of problems, but what it can't be faulted for is the incredible friendliness of the locals who live there. Everyone who passed our campsite came to say hello - word of our arrival had gotten around because canoeists don't generally come in from the West. [ The Coppermine River east of Kugluktuk is a very popular river though ] The two older boys on the left were avid fishermen and were out hoping to catch Artic Char. There was a local fishing Derby coming up at the weekend with a prize of $1500 - when Dave asked what they would spend the money on they replied without hesitation 'fishing hooks !'
The three cheeky looking chaps on the right - Tyson, Danzel & Kevin - came down to the beach to investigate our campsite. After answering a few hundred of their questions we skimmed stones for a while ( kyak, kyak ) and I taught them to play giants, wizards an dwarfs - they loved this game and we tried to come up with a Inuit version involving Grizzly bears, Caribou , Muskox etc. but since the Grizzly clearly wasn't defeated by anything we gave up.
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