Why Ross Survived When Franklin Died: Arctic Explorers and the Inuit, 1829–1848
The Franklin expedition disappeared in the High Arctic in the 1840s, looking for the North-West Passage. After a long search, contacts with local Inuit revealed they had all perished. Could the Inuit have saved Franklin’s crews? The experience of John and James Ross is instructive. A decade earlier...
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2020
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 https://scienceopen.com/document_file/5240370f-c6fc-4307-99d7-f1be55785217/ScienceOpen/ljcs3520200004.pdf https://scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 |
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cruclpress:10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 2024-06-02T08:00:56+00:00 Why Ross Survived When Franklin Died: Arctic Explorers and the Inuit, 1829–1848 Bayne, Nicholas 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 https://scienceopen.com/document_file/5240370f-c6fc-4307-99d7-f1be55785217/ScienceOpen/ljcs3520200004.pdf https://scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 en eng UCL Press https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ London Journal of Canadian Studies volume 35, issue 1 ISSN 0267-2200 2397-0928 journal-article 2020 cruclpress https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 2024-05-07T14:18:39Z The Franklin expedition disappeared in the High Arctic in the 1840s, looking for the North-West Passage. After a long search, contacts with local Inuit revealed they had all perished. Could the Inuit have saved Franklin’s crews? The experience of John and James Ross is instructive. A decade earlier they led a smaller party to an Arctic region near where Franklin’s crews landed. They made friends with an Inuit community and learnt useful skills in clothing, diet, shelter and transport. This enabled them to survive four Arctic winters and come home safely. But the Franklin expedition was poorly placed to benefit from Inuit contact. They were too numerous and had no interpreters. Trapped in the ice, they did not seek out Inuit villages. Leaving the ships, they turned towards a desert region and abandoned useful equipment. The wrecks of Erebus and Terror were only discovered in 2014 and 2016, again thanks to Inuit guidance. Britain has transferred the wrecks and their contents to Canada. They will be jointly held by the government and the Inuit people, whose contribution to the Franklin story is finally being recognized. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic inuit North West Passage UCL Press Arctic Canada London Journal of Canadian Studies 35 1 67 95 |
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Open Polar |
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UCL Press |
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cruclpress |
language |
English |
description |
The Franklin expedition disappeared in the High Arctic in the 1840s, looking for the North-West Passage. After a long search, contacts with local Inuit revealed they had all perished. Could the Inuit have saved Franklin’s crews? The experience of John and James Ross is instructive. A decade earlier they led a smaller party to an Arctic region near where Franklin’s crews landed. They made friends with an Inuit community and learnt useful skills in clothing, diet, shelter and transport. This enabled them to survive four Arctic winters and come home safely. But the Franklin expedition was poorly placed to benefit from Inuit contact. They were too numerous and had no interpreters. Trapped in the ice, they did not seek out Inuit villages. Leaving the ships, they turned towards a desert region and abandoned useful equipment. The wrecks of Erebus and Terror were only discovered in 2014 and 2016, again thanks to Inuit guidance. Britain has transferred the wrecks and their contents to Canada. They will be jointly held by the government and the Inuit people, whose contribution to the Franklin story is finally being recognized. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bayne, Nicholas |
spellingShingle |
Bayne, Nicholas Why Ross Survived When Franklin Died: Arctic Explorers and the Inuit, 1829–1848 |
author_facet |
Bayne, Nicholas |
author_sort |
Bayne, Nicholas |
title |
Why Ross Survived When Franklin Died: Arctic Explorers and the Inuit, 1829–1848 |
title_short |
Why Ross Survived When Franklin Died: Arctic Explorers and the Inuit, 1829–1848 |
title_full |
Why Ross Survived When Franklin Died: Arctic Explorers and the Inuit, 1829–1848 |
title_fullStr |
Why Ross Survived When Franklin Died: Arctic Explorers and the Inuit, 1829–1848 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Why Ross Survived When Franklin Died: Arctic Explorers and the Inuit, 1829–1848 |
title_sort |
why ross survived when franklin died: arctic explorers and the inuit, 1829–1848 |
publisher |
UCL Press |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 https://scienceopen.com/document_file/5240370f-c6fc-4307-99d7-f1be55785217/ScienceOpen/ljcs3520200004.pdf https://scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada |
genre |
Arctic inuit North West Passage |
genre_facet |
Arctic inuit North West Passage |
op_source |
London Journal of Canadian Studies volume 35, issue 1 ISSN 0267-2200 2397-0928 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.ljcs.2020v35.004 |
container_title |
London Journal of Canadian Studies |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
67 |
op_container_end_page |
95 |
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1800745169899749376 |