Excitement for Gjoa Haven's future as Inuit take lead on historical site for Franklin Expedition wrecks

The site where two Franklin Expedition ships wrecked over 170 years ago is under new management — and for people in nearby Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, it's stirring up some excitement for the future.

Last month, the federal government announced the Kitikmeot Inuit Association in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, and the Nattilik Heritage Society in Gjoa Haven would receive $23 million over the next decade to manage the site with Parks Canada.

The money will help establish base camps at the wreck sites for the Erebus and the Terror, where Inuit will help tell the story of the expedition through an Indigenous lens.

Jacob Keanik, the president of the Nattilik Heritage Society, said the agreement was six years in the making. It includes provisions for scholarships, funding for tourism and involves youth and elders in the project.

"I'd like to see that our Inuit people start their own tourism business. There's lots of opportunities — we're also looking for Inuit archaeologists," Keanik said.

He hopes the agreement will draw more people to travel through the Northwest Passage to Gjoa Haven. Closer to home, he said he wants to see it inspire youth to finish their education and have a shot at landing good jobs.

"I'm just very excited. You know, employment is very hard to find," he said.

Bobby Greenley, the president of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, said artifacts from the shipwrecks will be displayed as the Nattilik Heritage Centre expands. That will create more local jobs as well.

It will also help bring to light Inuit knowledge of these shipwrecks that was historically overlooked in the search for the Erebus and Terror, he said.

"I think it'll be great, and it probably shows a lot of recognition ... [for] people that knew what was there, and they tried to let people know where they saw the ships in the old days," he said.

The national historical site around the wrecks will be the first of its kind in Nunavut to be Inuit-led, according to a media statement from federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.

"The discoveries of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror is a story of Inuit knowledge combined with scientific knowledge," Guilbeault wrote.

Keanik said the agreement, which is officially called an Inuit impact and benefit agreement, will have a formal signing ceremony in Gjoa Haven sometime this fall.