Posts Tagged ‘Arctic exploration’
Let’s take back Arctic history in Scotland
Faithful readers (hi, mom!) will recognize this image of Abbotsford from my book Celtic Lightning. The historical novelist Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) created this castle-like residence, now a museum, 40 miles south of Edinburgh in the Scottish Borders. Sheena shot the photo a few years ago, when last we visited. End of March, I have…
Read MoreTeam set to retrace Rae’s 1854 expedition
The Arctic Return team is complete. Explorers Hugh Dale-Harris and Garry Tutte round out the four-man party that will set out in April 2019 to retrace John Rae’s legendary 1854 expedition. That’s the one on which, with William Ouligbuck and Thomas Mistegan, he solved the two great mysteries of 19th-century Arctic exploration, discovering both the…
Read MoreVoyage to the Erebus meets Arctic reality
Snorkeling was back on the agenda. Last September, when we boarded the Ocean Endeavour to sail west Out of the Northwest Passage with Adventure Canada, we expected to don wetsuits and go snorkeling over the wreck of John Franklin’s Erebus. The Arctic had other ideas. Click on this link to see the article I wrote…
Read MoreArctic Return Expedition will seek Northwest Passage in the footsteps of John Rae
“A snow storm of great violence raged during the whole of [April] 14th, which did not prevent us from making an attempt to get forward; after persevering two and a half hours, and gaining a mile and a half distance, we were again forced to take shelter.” — John Rae on his 1854 expedition In…
Read MoreGeologist finds relic from Franklin search
Canadian geologist Francis Manns was prospecting for lead and zinc. The mid-summer day was bright and literally endless — 24-hour sunlight. Manns was working his way along the Abbott River in the middle of Cornwallis Island, some distance north of Resolute Bay, when he spotted a cairn on a ridge or pinnacle. “It was two…
Read MoreDisdain for the Inuit won’t fly in Canada when Franklin exhibition moves to Ottawa
The disdain for the Inuit is palpable . . . and worrisome. We can only hope that the people bringing this project to Canada are planning major revisions. Yes, I have laid hands on a copy of Sir John Franklin’s Erebus and Terror Expedition / Lost and Found by Gillian Hutchinson (Bloomsbury). It grows out…
Read MoreOur Hero sacrifices modesty to preserve insightful review in Cyberspace
Dead Reckoning offers lively account of Inuit contributions to discovery of Northwest Passage Review by Charlie Smith (Georgia Strait, Oct. 22, 2017) Charles Dickens is deservedly seen as the greatest novelist in Victorian England. The author of such masterpieces as David Copperfield and Great Expectations was also an influential social activist, campaigning for various reforms,…
Read MoreDead Reckoning takes us into the secret life of maps
This glorious map turns up as endpapers in Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage. It was drawn by Dawn Huck, one of the principals at Heartland Associates in Winnipeg. I love the way it captures the discovery of the original Northwest Passage in three essential expeditions. The first, led by John Franklin,…
Read MoreAdvance readers discover ‘a brilliant reclaiming of history’
The advance readers are encouraging. Bob Rae writes: “Finally! A page-turning book about Arctic exploration that puts the heroism and leadership of indigenous people at the centre of the story.” Ronald Wright calls it “a lively and gripping tale of heroism, folly and icy death . . . by highlighting the role of the Inuit,…
Read MoreJohn Rae Centre will celebrate Orkney, the Arctic, and the Inuit
I do love this image created by Orcadian photographer James Grieve. He has combined photos of the Stromness statue of explorer John Rae and the Hall of Clestrain, where Rae was born in 1813. Having visited the Hall a few times over the years, I still most vividly remember the first time, in 1998, when…
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