29.08.2023 Tuesday Gjoa Haven (Pronounced. Johaven)

 Gjoa Haven is situated on King William Island and is another area connected to the ill fated Franklin Expedition in 1845/46. Also the Hudson Bay company had a base there where trading was done with the locals, Furs etc.

We got up this morning to find it had been raining overnight and the day didn't look to promising. So it was decided that Morgan and I stay on board today. I was quite pleased as I had a hangover from my Rum tipple from the night before.

The Inuit name for the place is Uqsuqtuuq. We have also crossed the border into Nunavit (Our Land) this territory is an Inuit self governing part of Canada. Today we are going on another walking tour around the settlement and hopefully will be able to get into the Heritage centre and they are going to put on a show for us at the Community Hall. Almost as soon as we landed the weather started closing in and it got very wet and mizzerly. We started walking round town with our guide who showed us the Health Centre, the Home for the Elderly and Disabled. She did eventually take us to the Hamlet office where there is a bust of Roald Amundsen. Our on board Historian, Carol, was very keen to see it so we all went in to see it. I think we were the only group that did. Roald Amundson's Bust is much bigger than we thought it would be. It stands at least 1 metre high and was on a Pallet as if it was in the process of being moved again. Apparently there are 5 of these busts. Hooray, the Heritage centre was open and eventually it was our turn to go in. We had to take our boots off to go in so I put a walking stick one into each of our boots so we knew they were ours. Not a large centre, but had a board about the Franklin Expedition various carved statues carved from Soapstone, a little shop and some ladies making Sealskin shoes for children, in traditional ways. Took a photo of a table with finished articles on. Then boots back on and off to the community hall for a snack and traditional Drumming, dancing and Throat Singing. the weather was quite miserable by the time we got there, at least we didn't have to take off our boots. There was a choice of Fish Stew or Caribou Stew. Master and Missus had Caribou stew with bread, a good choice as they said it was very tasty. They went into the hall and sat down and waited for the show to start. Some of the performers turned up late as they had put on a show in the morning as well for another cruise ship. Also some had forgotten! Drumming a bit slow and boring but one local man got up from the audience and asked the singers if they knew a particular chant which they did and he also did a drum dance. He was good. It would have been nice if someone had given us information about the significance of the drum dances. Then there was a short interval while the band reassembled and the Square Dancers came in dancing. They were on for quite some time and various members of the Expedition team were pulled onto the dance floor and some of the passengers joined in too. Master and Missus had positioned themselves in the back row, good move that! After the dancers had finished they had found the Throat Singers. They had gone down to the dockside instead of coming to the hall. They had taken a bit of finding. Then the performance was over and suddenly there was 350 people standing on the dockside waiting to get back to the ship, not quite the orderly return the ship team had hoped for, but fun all the same.

The birds seen on the visit were Lapland Longspur and Bairds Sandpiper, Missus glad Brendan was leading the group.

Bust Of Roald Amundsen at Hamlet office Gjoa Haven, said to be lucky if you rub his nose. that's why its so shiny!

Traditionally made items in Heritage Centre

Board about Franklin Expedition

This morning the first History Round Table was held in the Exploration Lounge. Quite a lot was said about the Franklin Expedition as it is King William Island that we will be on this afternoon. Various investigations into what happened to Franklin himself, suggest he actually died before either of the ships sank.  It has been suggested that he is buried in a tomb  on King William Island. One person is said to be searching for a tomb by looking at Satellite Pictures. If he is ever found it is hoped the ship's log is with him. It would appear the Erebus sunk first and the Terror a considerable time later some distance away. Both ships had been frozen in the ice. My carer is hoping to get hold of a couple of books to read when we get home. One is an interesting account of a Dr Rae from Orkney who worked for the Hudson Bay Company and was regularly in touch with the local Inuit tribes. They had seen the Terror, and had also encountered some badly dressed people who looked as though they were starving. The strangers said that they were going south to find Caribou to eat. The next year the same Inuit People came across 30 corpses and they confirmed there seemed to be signs of cannibalism. Must get the book called 'Fatal Passage' by Ken McCoogan. This is the account about Dr John Rae's findings from the Inuit, Which turned out to be true. Alas, the poor man was totally discredited by Franklyn's widow and the author Charles Dickens, when he returned to England.

Recently along our route we had started noticing white Golf ball listening stations at regular intervals along the coast. This is the north warning system looking at Russia.