Historical Articles & Resources

Discover Historical articles of the early Whalers, R.N.W.M.P., the Hudson’s Bay Company Ltd., or R.C. Mission, and the Grey Nun’s of Nicolet, Quebec of Ste. Therese’s Hospital etc.

1. History of the Canadian Coast Guard and Marine Services by Thomas E. Appleton
2. Photo of a had drawn map of Chesterfield Inlet by Frank Davies circa 1932-33, or thereabouts
3. Two articles from about Fur Trader, Herbert H. Hall entitled “On Furlough From The Arctic” and Goliath Of The Wilderness
4. An Elders Story – Leonie Sammurtok and Mary Nuvak; Leonie Sammurtok has lived in Chesterfield Inlet from the beginning. She has been called “Grandmother of Chesterfield Inlet.” Although her precise age is unknown, Leonie Sammurtok is either mother, grandmother, or great grandmother to more than half the people in this hamlet on the western coast of Hudson Bay. Read her story reported by David F. Pelly
5. View an archived file in Adobe® PDF format from the Hudson’s Bay Company Ltd. giving company historical information on Chesterfield Inlet
6. Read more Historical Information on Chesterfield Inlet, the only Arctic community that has survived at one location for more than 80 years
7. Chesterfield Inlet Historical Time Line as it appears on our Town Mural
8. Historical Time Line of Chesterfield Inlet
9. Brief history of Captain George Comer who visited the area between 1875-1919
10. Mr. Douglas sailed into the Arctic in 1916, and served there for 17 years, first with the RNWMP and then with the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1919, he came down to Chesterfield Inlet to meet the Hudson’s Bay Company supply ship, Nascopie. Read his account of The Wreck of the ‘FINBACK’
11. View the history of whaling (1860-1915) on the Hudson Bay coast by way of a recently produced map detailing whaling activities during this time
12. Rights of United States Fishermen Hudson’s Bay – Canadian Government Sends a Revenue Cruiser to Collect Duties on Outfits of Whalers from This Country – Claim That the Bay is a Closed Sea
13. The National Museum of the American Indian
14. Read information about excavation work that was conducted by the Explorers of the Danish Fifth Thule Expedition 1923-1927 in Chesterfield Inlet
15. The Grey Nuns, Health Services & Education, Churchill Hudson Bay Diocese, 1931-1988
16. Chesterfield Inlet Stories from the Journals of Don McLauchlan, 1937-1949
17. Mercy Mission, late 1940s
18. Chesterfield Inlet, N.W.T. Roman Catholic Participation in Education of the Central Arctic Inuit, Turquetil Hall 1955-1969 (Part One), or Turquetil Hall 1955-1969 (Part Two)
19. The Qatiktalik (Fullerton Harbour) Photo Narrative Project, Glenbow Museum, Alberta
20. Northwest Explorer, “Chesterfield Inlet – the original Keewatin settlement” by David F. Pelly, Spring, 1987
21. The Grey’s Nun’s, Ste. Therese’s Hospital, Chesterfield Inlet, Nunatsiaq News, Oct., 1999
22. Explorer’s Cache of Artifacts Illuminates His Life With the Inuit, The New York Times, June, 2008
23. Research article of the R.N.W.M.P, Fullerton Harbour, Nunavut News/North, December, 2012
24. Rasmussen’s Fifth Thule Expedition: to Chesterfield Inlet and Baker Lake, Sept. 18, 2021