Qaernermiut Inuit woman with tattoos, Cape Fullerton, Hudson Bay, Canadian Arctic

• Main Author: Comer, George (Creator)
• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: Ownership Statement: Mystic Seaport 1905
• Subjects: Inuit women; Tattooing; Arctic; Bedford; Cape Fullerton; Chesterfield Inlet; Hudson; Hudson Bay; New Bedford; inuit
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11134/70002:5437

An Inuit woman with facial tattoos poses inside the deckhouse on board the whaling schooner Era at Cape Fullerton, Hudson Bay, March 8, 1905. She is identified as a "Kenepitu woman showing tattooing of that tribe-formerly the wife of Tom Hyer[?]." Lifestyle Title supplied by cataloger. Information from original envelope identifies this as Photo #7. The Inuit identified as Kenepitic, Kenepetu or Kenepitu were from the Chesterfield Inlet region; the modern designation for the group is Qaernermiut. Taken by Captain George Comer (1858-1937), a sealer and whaling captain from East Haddam. He went to sea while still in his teens and was later master of vessels from both New London and New Bedford, including the Era. Comer participated in voyages involved in polar expeditions and was noted for his studies of Arctic peoples and their environment.