Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18

1919-1946

Expeditions (Special Collections) Q115 C2 1913

Ottawa: F.A. Acland

Two expeditionary parties, led by Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962), travelled into Canada’s wilds in 1913, one to the North, the other to the South. The North party intended to search for new land in the Canadian Arctic; the South party carried out scientific research, observed the indigenous peoples and researched copper deposits in the area. During the first year of the expedition, the research vessel Karluk was carried away by ice and subsequently crushed with the loss of eleven lives. Among the members of the expedition was New Zealander Diamond Jenness (1886-1969), an anthropologist, born in Wellington and educated at Oxford. A survivor of the Karluk crushing, Jenness spent two years living with the Copper Inuit and his research helped to cement his reputation as an eminent ethnologist. He became Canada’s Chief Anthropologist in 1926.