A comparative analysis of the Su-pung-er and Bayne testimonies related to the Franklin expedition

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Gross, Tom, Taichman, Russell S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2017
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Arctic; Northwest Passage; inuit; Northwest passage; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247417000535; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247417000535

ABSTRACT During Charles Francis Hall's second Arctic expedition (1864–1869) to find survivors and/or documents of Sir John Franklin's 1845 Northwest Passage expedition, two separate Inuit testimonies were recorded of a potential burial vault of a high-ranking officer. The first testimony was provided by a Boothia Inuk named Su-pung-er. The second testimony was documented by Captain Peter Bayne who, at the time, was employed by Hall. To date the vault has not been found. Recently, both the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror have been located. The discovery of these vessels was made possible, in part, by Inuit testimony of encounters with and observations of the Franklin expedition. The findings of the Erebus and Terror have significantly bolstered the view that the Inuit accurately reported their observations and interactions with the Franklin crew. The purpose of this paper is to publish in their entirety Hall's notes from conversations with Su-pung-er focused on the vaults and to compare these observations to those reported in the Bayne testimony. It is our hope that in so doing the final major archaeological site of the Franklin expedition may be located.