Featured Article Summary #165

Tatannuaq, also known as Augustus, was an Inuit" target="_blank">Inuk interpreter who worked on two of John Franklin’s Arctic expeditions in what is now Canada. He came from an Inuit group living about 200 miles north of Churchill and learned English and Cree while working at a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post in Churchill, where he helped Franklin understand local geography and Inuit culture. In 1819–1822, he joined Franklin’s Coppermine expedition as one of two interpreters, sometimes scouting ahead and helping communicate with people they met. The expedition suffered severe starvation, and many of the group died during the return journey. In 1825–1827, he traveled with Franklin on the Mackenzie River expedition, taking on a diplomatic role and helping prevent Inuit groups from attacking. After working for the Hudson’s Bay Company for several years at Fort Chimo, he went to help search for John Ross’s expedition, but he died in early 1834 in bad weather near Fort Resolution. Tatannuaq was born in the 1790s to an Inuit family about 200 miles north of Churchill. His group travelled between Churchill and the Hudson Bay coast by sleigh in winter and spring, and went inland in summer to hunt caribou and muskoxen, returning to hunt seal along the coast in time for the spring thaws. In 1812, he began working for the Hudson’s Bay Company at the Churchill trading post, improving his English and Cree and later serving as an interpreter under the English name Augustus. He was described as physically strong and a good writer, left the post briefly in 1814, returned in 1815, and went back to Inuit lands in 1816; in 1818 he married and had three sons. After the Napoleonic Wars, Britain wanted to find a possible Northwest Passage, so Royal Navy officer John Franklin organized an expedition to explore the Arctic coastline and meet William Edward Parry’s team. Inuit interpreter Tatannuaq was hired in 1820, and with another interpreter he traveled from York Factory through several posts toward Franklin’s base, facing winter delays and traveling in difficult conditions. Franklin tested Tatannuaq’s knowledge using an Inuit-language gospel and regional maps, and Tatannuaq could identify places not shown while explaining details from his community’s trade routes. Tatannuaq and Hoeootoerock were viewed positively by the expedition, and Tatannuaq even expected other members to show him deference, spending time writing and smoking. In 1821, Franklin’s party became the first British mission to travel down the Coppermine River since Samuel Hearne’s expedition. Tatannuaq and Hoeootoerock tried to contact Inuit near Bloody Falls, but the people fled twice when word spread that a British group was arriving. They later met an elderly Inuk man, White Fox, who was calmed and then spoke with the party after receiving gifts, though they learned little about the area and even declined an offered marriage, before charting much of the coastline and stopping at Point Turnagain in August. After Hoeootoerock went missing following a hunting trip, Tatannuaq helped search but eventually moved on alone, became lost, and later found his way to Fort Enterprise to reunite with the expedition. The party suffered severe hunger and even ate difficult foods before sending Tatannuaq and another man to get supplies; they later received help from Chief Akaitcho, reached several forts, and only nine of the twenty who started survived. In 1822, Tatannuaq returned to Fort Churchill and learned his wife had been involved with Hoeootoerock’s family after his death, leading Hoeootoerock’s group to blame Tatannuaq and ostracize him. He worked hard just to survive, met missionary John West, acted as his interpreter, converted to Christianity, and later traveled north to reunite with his family.