The Inuit and Franklin: How Inuit oral tradition is helping to solve this great Canadian mystery
Press Release
What: Can Geo Talks 2016: Inuit Oral Tradition and Franklin When: Tuesday, April 12th 2016, 2015 at 7 p.m.
Where: Canadian Museum of History Theatre, 100 Rue Laurier, Gatineau, Q.C., K1A 0M8
Who: Captain Dave Woodman: The leading expert on the role Inuit testimony played in learning about Sir John Franklin’s ill‐fated Arctic expedition. Woodman is the evening’s keynote speaker.
Louie Kamookak: Celebrated Inuit historian and leader in the collection and preservation of Inuit testimony related to Franklin.
Ryan Harris: Acclaimed Senior Underwater Archaeologist with Parks Canada. Since 2008 has led the remote‐sensing operations for Parks Canada’s Franklin searches and discovered HMS Erebus in 2014. Dr. Russell Potter: Globally recognized American academic for his work on 19th‐century Arctic
exploration and Franklin’s expedition.
Dr. Karen Ryan: Canadian Museum of History’s Curator for Northern Canada and an expert on northern historical archeology.
John Geiger: Chief Executive Officer of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society is a highly respected author of several books on the Franklin expedition. Geiger will moderate the event.
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) has assembled some of the world’s top experts on Arctic history and exploration to discuss the role Inuit oral tradition played in unraveling the mystery of Franklin’s ill‐ fated expedition. Learn how it can help us solve the fate of Franklin, and mysteries including locating the missing second ship, HMS Terror.
The evening’s keynote speaker is Captain Dave Woodman. Early on Woodman realized the potential of Inuit oral history to find the evidence about what happened to Franklin and his crew. Joining Woodman is renowned Inuit historian Louis Kamookak, who for 30 years gathered elders’ accounts relating to the Franklin expedition. With the research provided by Kamookak, Parks Canada archeologists found Franklin’s HMS Erebus and made history. Ryan Harris, Parks Canada’s Senior Underwater Archaelogist will be on hand to explain how 21st sonar radar technology and Inuit oral history helped find the Erebus. Dr. Russell Potter is an expert on Franklin, on 19th century British Arctic exploration and has devoted a blog to Arctic exploration. Dr. Karen Ryan, the Canadian Museum of History’s expert detective that takes found objects that can become clues to learning what happened to the ill‐fated Franklin expedition. The RCGS’s CEO, John Geiger, will moderate the evening’s discussion. Geiger has written two books on Franklin, Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, co‐ authored with Owen Beattie and Franklin’s Lost Ship: The Historic Discovery of HMS Erebus, co‐authored with Alanna Mitchell.
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For more information about the 2016 Can Geo Talk, please visit our website or contact:
Deborah Chapman, Communications Manager Royal Canadian Geographical Society
O (613) 613‐745‐4629 ext. 160 / C (613) 299‐8995
Email: chapman@rcgs.org`
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