10 years after Franklin shipwreck site was located in Nunavut, Inuit involvement is still strong

It's been 10 years since Inuit helped guide researchers to the wreck of the HMS Erebus, one of the ships from the 1845 Franklin expedition, and the mayor of the community that was pivotal to the search says identifying those sites has been a good thing for his community.

The wreck site of the HMS Erebus was located in 2014, while the site of the HMS Terror was identified in 2016 — both with the help of Inuit oral history. They are located near Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, a hamlet of about 1,350 people on King William Island, north of the Arctic Circle.

Gjoa Haven Mayor Raymond Quqshuun Sr. says Inuit involvement in the ongoing project with Parks Canada — which has included retrieving 1,500 artifacts from the Erebus site — is proving successful.

Inuit guardians working under the hamlet's Nattilik Heritage Society guard the areas of the shipwrecks and also contribute to research, he said.

"I think that's really important, and we're proud of it because Inuit could be involved with the researching and working with the team to check the site and check the artifacts," he said.

"Also, we're happy because they employ people in the community to be part of it. Economically, it's beneficial to our community."

Parks Canada says when possible, the guardians work closely with its underwater archaeology team in the summers. According to the department, the guardians will eventually play a key role in hosting visitors to the sites. For now, they are key in tracking ships in the area and monitoring any potential threats from vessels or visitors, since the wreck sites aren't open to the public.

Traditional knowledge 'paramount'

John Franklin set out from England with the two ships in 1845, in hopes of exploring and mapping the Northwest Passage. Neither he nor any of his crewmen ever returned, and the more than 30 expeditions that sought to find them resulted in searchers collecting some artifacts in the region where the ships had been deserted, but the actual sites where they eventually sank were never found. 

Louie Kamookak, a historian in Gjoa Haven, spent more than 30 years interviewing elders to collect the stories passed down about the Franklin expedition. That information was shared with Parks Canada in 2008, after which its researchers, in partnership with Inuit, located the Erebus just off the northwest coast of King William Island.

The Terror was found two years later, and the discoveries made global headlines.

Since then, Parks Canada's underwater archeology team has worked with Inuit to excavate the Erebus. The artifacts recovered are jointly owned by Parks Canada and Inuit Heritage Trust, an organization that represents Inuit interests related to archaeology, among other things.

"Inuit traditional knowledge and the information and collaboration from the community of Gjoa Haven have been paramount to all the work that that we've done since the discovery of the HMS Erebus," said Andrew Maher, Parks Canada's site superintendent.

The shipwrecks have been classified as a national historic site, and according to Parks Canada, they are the first in Nunavut to be co-operatively managed by Parks Canada and Inuit through the Nattilik Heritage Society and its guardians.

'They have seen things'

According to the Nattilik Heritage Society, searches for the ships as far back as the mid and late 1800s benefitted from Inuit who knew about the wrecks and who recounted oral histories. 

Quqshuun said the fact Inuit knowledge and skills have been used and respected in recent searches is important to his community.

"The Inuit had that knowledge from a long time ago because [the ships] have been there since the 1800s … people from this area, living on the land, they have seen things," Quqshuun said.

Since 2017, the hamlet has held a week-long celebration called the Umiyaqtutt Festival to celebrate the anniversary of locating the Erebus. Quqshuun said the celebrations include drum dancing, jigging, a community feast and more.

In 2023, Parks Canada signed a 10-year Inuit impact and benefit agreement with the non-profit that represents Inuit in the region, the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.

In a statement, Robert Greenley, president of the association, said the collaboration is proof of how important it is for Inuit of the Kitikmeot region to share their culture and the history with the world.

"Over the last decade, our collaboration with Parks Canada and federal partners has exemplified Piliriqatigiinniq, the Inuit principle of working together for a common cause," he said.

Sites still closed to public

Parks Canada superintendent Maher said the Erebus is in fairly shallow water and among low-lying land. On a recent flight to the site, he caught a glimpse of wreck below the water.

"If the light's right, you can actually see it from the surface," he said.

For now, the shipwreck sites are closed to the public, and research — including dives to retrieve items — is active and ongoing. 

"Hopefully at some point in the future … through discussions with our partners, [we] will be able to work toward having other ways for Canadians and for the world to experience [it] … because it is pretty amazing," Maher said.