Kenn Harper

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Articles

David Copperfield – A whaling tragedy

Jan 11, 2025 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

Bowhead whalers from the United States erected their first buildings at Herschel Island, off the Yukon coast, in 1891. Because it had a sheltered harbour, the site soon became an important whaling centre in the Beaufort Sea. Wintering there allowed whalers an early start on the spring whaling. At its peak, as many as 12 ships wintered there, with a population of outsiders of about 600, far outnumbering the Inuit population.
A little book about Pooq

Nov 16, 2024 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

Pooq returned to Greenland in 1725 with his friend Qiperoq, who had died in Bergen, Norway. Nevertheless, his return was a memorable affair. He had composed some songs about his voyage and the sights he had seen, and he performed them for his rapt countrymen. He sang about the houses in Copenhagen, the Round Tower (which continues to amaze tourists even today), the soldiers, firefighting equipment, and the common people whom he found to be very friendly.
The travels of Pooq, a Greenlander

Nov 2, 2024 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

Three hundred years ago, two young Inuit from Greenland took a trip to far-off Copenhagen. Greenlanders had travelled to Europe before, but never voluntarily. Previous travellers had been kidnapped and usually died in Europe as a result of diseases to which they were unaccustomed at home. This trip was different. The two young men, Pooq and Qiperoq, had volunteered to travel to Europe. In 1724, Hans Egede was struggling.
Thursday Pops – entertainment on an expedition ship

Oct 19, 2024 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

One of the most challenging tasks for the captain of an exploration vessel wintering in the Arctic in the days before electricity and radio was knowing what to do to keep the crew active and alert during the dark period of the winter. Of course, good food was important because scurvy was a constant threat. But mental well-being could not be overlooked. The dark period could be depressing, and the farther north one was, the more intense was the dark.
Olaudah Equiano — the first Black man to cross the Arctic Circle

Oct 5, 2024 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

It has been more than two centuries since Britain abolished the slave trade in the British Empire. One remarkable and controversial man who worked in Britain as part of the abolition movement was himself a former slave, Olaudah Equiano. He had a number of firsts in his event-filled life. One of them was that he was the first Black man to cross the Arctic Circle. Equiano claimed to have been born in Africa around the year 1745.
Mike and Akpalialuk visit Scotland – Part 2

Sep 21, 2024 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

The Albert sailed from Pond’s Inlet on Sept. 20 bound for Peterhead. It was a harrowing voyage. Three days out, pack ice was sighted. The following day, Capt. John Murray succeeded in clearing it but young ice was already forming in the leads and open water. On Sept. 29, the vessel put in to Godhavn on the Greenland coast for water.
An American Indian in London

Sep 12, 2024 | cbc.ca | Kenn Harper |Peter Jones

Secret Life of CanadaIn 1492 Chirstopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and then promptly began kidnapping Indigenous people and taking them back to Spain. But who were these people, and where did they end up?
Mike and Akpalialuk visit Scotland – Part 1

Sep 7, 2024 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

In my last column, the little ship Albert had reached Button Point, near Pond Inlet, to rescue Jamie Florence who had been there for three years. How the little vessel reached him is a story in itself. In 1919, Henry Toke Munn, owner of the Arctic Gold Exploration Syndicate, and Capt. John Murray were in Halifax where they outfitted the Albert, hired a crew, and sailed for Baffin Island in late June.
Jamie Florence’s Arctic ordeal – Part 2

Aug 24, 2024 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

In 1919, Munn’s little ship the Albert finally reached Pond Inlet with supplies for Jamie Florence. Munn learned Florence had not been successful in trading. The supply of furs at his post at Sannirut was nowhere near what Munn had expected. The reasons are unclear. Munn noted only, “My man here had done very badly, and his returns were very poor.”Perhaps the generosity of Robert Janes in his first few years of trading had succeeded in luring the Inuit trade away from Munn’s post.
Jamie Florence’s Arctic ordeal – Part 1

Aug 10, 2024 | nunatsiaq.com | Kenn Harper

In 1914, Capt. Henry Toke Munn, an eccentric Brit, established a fur trading post at Sannirut on Bylot Island near present-day Pond Inlet. Whalers and traders called the place Button Point. For a fur trading enterprise, his company had an unusual name, the Arctic Gold Exploration Syndicate, for Munn was also obsessed with finding gold in the eastern Arctic as others had in the Klondike. The “captain” in Munn’s name was a military title earned in the Boer War in Africa.