Eighteenth Century Labrador Inuit in England

Abstract

abStraCt. In the late 18th century, a number of Labrador Inuit were at different times taken to England. their lives, journeys, and likenesses were unusually well documented through writings and portraiture. Presented here are the histories of Mikak and her son tutauk, brought to England by Francis Lucas in 1767, and of attuiock, Ickongoque, Ickeuna, tooklavinia, and Caubvick, who traveled to England in 1772 with Captain George Cartwright. these individuals, especially Mikak, played a part in britain's expansion along the northeastern seaboard of Canada. although the story is relatively well known to students of northern history, this retelling details source material and also clarifies discrepancies found in earlier publications. the portraits, which include two previously unknown depictions of Labrador Inuit, are particularly striking for their ethnographic content.Key words: Labrador Inuit, voyages to England, portraits, Mikak, tutauk, Karpik, attuiock, Ickongoque, Ickeuna, tooklavinia, Caubvick, nooziliack, George Cartwright, Moravians rÉSUMÉ. Vers la fin du XVIII e siècle, des Inuits du Labrador ont été amenés en angleterre à différents moments. Grâce à de nombreux écrits et portraits, la vie, le voyage et la ressemblance de ces Inuits ont été inhabituellement bien consignés. Cette communication relate l'histoire de Mikak et de son fils tutauk, qui ont été amenés en angleterre par Francis Lucas en 1767, ainsi que les histoires de attuiock, Ickongoque, Ickeuna, tooklavinia et Caubvick qui ont accompagné le commandant George Cartwright en angleterre en 1772. Ces personnes, et surtout Mikak, ont joué un rôle dans l'expansion de la Grande-bretagne le long de la côte nord-est du Canada. bien que leur histoire soit relativement bien connue des étudiants de l'histoire du nord, ce récit fait état des sources originales et jette de la lumière sur les divergences trouvées dans des publications antérieures. Le contenu ethnographique des portraits, qui comprennent deux représentations auparavant inconnues d'Inuits du Labrador, est particulièrement frappant.

People and Plants in Nunatsiavut (Labrador, Canada): Examining Plants as a Foundational Aspect of Culture in the Subarctic

“…It became clear that plants served as memory markers for defining historical events in Postville, Hopedale, and Rigolet, such as the history of the Moravians and the relocations that happened in the late 1950s (Dombrowski et al 2016 ; Stopp 2009 ). When people were asked about mushrooms (Division Basidiomycota), rhubarb ( Rheum compactum ), poppies ( Papaver nudicaule ), and chives ( Allium schoenoprasum ), they recalled the history of the Moravian missions and missionaries in northern Labrador.…”

The Cartography of Kallihirua?: Reassessing Indigenous Mapmaking and Arctic Encounters

“…However, less than six months after his arrival in this remote parish, the young Inuk contracted a severe case of bronchitis and, as a result of having no immunity, subsequently passed away many miles away from his Greenlandic home. He thus became another in a long line of Arctic peoples who had been transported to southern regions following encounters with European explorers in the North and had suffered similarly dire consequences as a result (Thrush 2014;Stopp and Mitchell 2010;Stopp 2009;Harbsmeier 2007;Sturtevant 1999).…”

The origin of William Richardson’s 1771 description of a Labrador Inuit snow house

“…The Inuk, along with his two wives, three young children, a brother, a nephew, and a "maidservant," was brought to St. Lewis Inlet in 1770 by Cartwright's business partner Francis Lucas from "Auchbucktoke," very likely "Ogbuctoke" or today's Hopedale area (Cartwright 1792: entry for 5 October 1770; Taylor 1974: 13). Lucas described Attuiock as a "chief" of a "tribe" of Inuit, and it was Attuiock and some of his extended family whom Cartwright took to England in the autumn of 1772 (Stopp 2009;Stopp and Mitchell 2010). Upon arriving in St. Lewis Inlet, the Inuit first lived in a wooden house of European construction, which proved to be cold and "too bad to live in."…”