A Narrative of Some Passages in the History of Eenoolooapik

Published in 1841 this is the story of Eenoolooapik a young Inuit who guided whaling captain William Penny to the mouth of Cumberland Sound a whale-rich body of water 250 years after it was first explored and named by John Davis. Probably the first Inuk for whom a biography was published during his lifetime ''Eenoo'' drew a map which led Penny to the whaling area. His geographical knowledge therefore resulted in a burgeoning industry that provided seasonal employment to the Inuit and dramatically changed their lives. Alexander M''Donald (181748) describes Eenoolooapik''s life and environment a visit to Scotland with Penny (where he endeared himself to the people he met) and the difficulties he encountered in making the transition from life in the Arctic to nineteenth-century Britain. M''Donald himself later worked as an assistant surgeon on H.M.S. Terror in Sir John Franklin''s last expedition: his eventual fate is not known.