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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2017

Tom Gross  and
Russell S. Taichman
Tom Gross
Affiliation:
39 Wild Rose Drive, Hay River, NT, X03 0R4, Canada
Russell S. Taichman
Affiliation:
Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, 1011 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA ([email protected])
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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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 53 , Issue 6 , November 2017 , pp. 561 - 579
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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