Minik Wallace
Encyclopedia
Minik Wallace (ca. 1890 – October 29, 1918) was an Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
brought as a child in 1897 from Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
to New York with his father and others by the explorer Robert Peary
Robert Peary
Robert Edwin Peary, Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...
. The six Inuit were studied by staff of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, which had custody. The adults and one child died soon of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
(TB), and one young man was returned to Greenland. After deceiving Minik by a staged burial, the museum put the skeleton of his father on exhibit. Adopted by the chief curator, William Wallace, Minik did not return to Greenland until after 1910. A few years later, he came back to the United States, where he lived and worked until dying of influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
in the 1918 pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
.
Early years
Minik spent his early childhood in Northern GreenlandGreenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
among his people, the Inughuit
Inughuit
The Inughuit or Polar Eskimos are the northernmost group of Inuit, and the world's northernmost people. They were first contacted by European peoples by the expedition led by Sir John Ross in 1818; Ross dubbed them "Arctic Highlanders"...
, the northernmost band of indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
(Arctic Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
s, as formerly called). He met Robert Peary when the explorer employed men of Minik's band during several Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
expeditions.
The move to the US
In 1897, Robert Peary brought the Inuit Qisuk, his son Minik, and four members of the Northern Greenland band to the American Museum of Natural HistoryAmerican Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York. Although Peary had invited the adults on the trip, it is unlikely they were clearly informed as to its purpose. Some agreed to travel to see new places; others did not want to be parted from relatives. Peary had promised that they would be able to return to Greenland. Soon after their arrival, the group became the objects of study, together with a meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
which Peary had brought. The museum staff had not made plans for their care, nor for their return.
Minik's father
The adult InuitInuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
soon contracted tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
(TB), a widespread infectious disease
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
in those years, which also occurred among indigenous peoples. Three adults and one child died. (Another young adult, the sixth member of the group, survived and was returned to Greenland). One of the first to die was Minik's father, and the boy suffered. William Wallace
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence....
, chief curator and superintendent of buildings, adopted the boy and cared for him. Minik pleaded for a proper burial for his father, with the traditional rites which only he as an Inuit could give. The curatorial staff wanted to preserve Qisuk's body for study, research that would be impossible if his remains were buried. They staged a fake burial for Minik's benefit: filling a coffin with stones for weight, and placing a stuffed "body" covered with a cloth on top. They performed the burial by lantern light, with Minik attending.
The staff sent Qisuk's body to Wallace's estate, which had a workshop for processing the skeletons of specimens. Qisuk's remains were de-fleshed, and the skeleton was mounted on an armature
Armature
Armature may refer to:* Armature , the kinematic chains used in computer animation to simulate the motions of virtual characters...
and returned to the Museum for display. Wallace did not tell Minik about this nor of his own part in it. But, about 1906, New York papers published a story that stated Qisuk's skeleton was displayed in the Museum. Minik learned through classmates' comments as the story circulated.
Wallace supported Minik in requesting that Qisuk's remains be returned to the son for traditional burial. The Museum director, Hermon Carey Bumpus, evaded their requests, as well as other questions about the Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
exhibits. Bumpus refused to admit the Museum had Qisuk's skeleton. In the past, he had accused Wallace of financial irregularities and impropriety, and the curator resigned in 1901. Wallace continued to ask the Museum for aid in financially supporting Minik, which Bumpus refused. The director tried to avoid investigation of the Inuit case. Minik was never able to reclaim his father's bones.
Return to Greenland
Minik tried to get Peary to return him to Greenland, and finally Peary and his supporters made the arrangements. Although they told the press they had sent Minik back "laden with gifts", the Canadian author Kenn HarperKenn Harper
Kenn Harper is a Canadian grocer in Iqaluit, Nunavut. He writes a regular column in Nunatsiaq News. He was employed at various times as a teacher and development officer and is an entrepreneur. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society...
found documentation that the Inuit was returned to Greenland with little more than "the clothes on his back."
By that time, Minik had forgotten his first language and much of Inuit culture and skills; his life in Greenland was difficult. The Inuit took him back, and taught him the adult skills he needed. He became a fine hunter. He acted as a guide and translator for visitors, playing a key role in the Crocker Land Expedition
Crocker Land Expedition
The Crocker Land Expedition was an ill-fated 1913 expedition to investigate Crocker Land, a huge island supposedly sighted by the explorer Robert Peary from the top of Cape Colgate in 1906...
of 1913-1917. At that time, Minik decided to return to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and did so in 1916.
Return to the USA
After his return to the US, Minik worked at a variety of jobs; eventually he found work in a lumber camp in North StratfordStratford, New Hampshire
Stratford is a town located on the Connecticut River in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 746 at the 2010 census. Within the town are the villages of North Stratford and Stratford Hollow. U.S...
, New Hampshire. His employer, Afton Hall, invited him to live with the Hall family, who treated him much like a son. Along with many of Hall's family and workers, Minik died during the 1918 flu pandemic, on 29 October 1918. He was buried in the Indian Stream
Indian Stream
Indian Stream is a tributary of the Connecticut River, approximately 19.1 miles long, in New Hampshire in the United States. It rises in the mountains of extreme northern New Hampshire, in Coos County near the U.S.-Canada border, where the Middle Branch of Indian Stream joins the West Branch...
Cemetery in Pittsburg, New Hampshire
Pittsburg, New Hampshire
Pittsburg is a town in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 869 at the 2010 census. It is the northernmost town in New Hampshire and the largest town by area in the state - and in New England as well - more than twice the size of the next largest town, Lincoln. U.S...
.
Inuit burial
In the 1980s, Kenn HarperKenn Harper
Kenn Harper is a Canadian grocer in Iqaluit, Nunavut. He writes a regular column in Nunatsiaq News. He was employed at various times as a teacher and development officer and is an entrepreneur. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society...
wrote a book about Minik, entitled Give Me My Father's Body. Convinced that the remains of Qisuk and the three adult Inuit should be returned to Greenland, Harper tried to persuade the Museum of Natural History to do this, as well as working through the "red tape" of the US and Canadian governments. In 1993, Harper succeeded in having the Inuit remains returned. In Qaanaaq
Qaanaaq
Qaanaaq is the main town in the northern part of the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is one of the northernmost towns in the world. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak the West Greenlandic language and many also speak Inuktun. The town has a population of 626 as of 2010...
, he witnessed the Inuit funeral ceremony for the remains of Qisuk and the three tribesmen taken to New York so long ago.
In popular culture
- The Brooklyn-based history band PinatalandPiñatalandPiñataland is a Brooklyn-based musical group created by David Wechsler and Doug Stone. Their songs are often about obscure historical events and people, including, among others:*The pygmy Ota Benga...
recorded "If Ice Were Warm" on their 2008 album Songs for the Forgotten Future, Vol. 2. They wrote it from Minik's view. The younger son of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has Minik as one of his names. The little Prince's names in full are Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander of Denmark.
External links
- "Minik Wallace", the memory palace podcast