“When Commander Robert E. Peary was exploring Greenland in 1894, an Eskimo took him to a place near Cape York, where a huge metallic meteorite lay, half buried in the ground. For a hundred years this had been a source of metal for the Eskimo hunters, who used to break off pieces from the meteorite and fashion the metal into weapons and tools. There was still a mass of about thirty-seven tons remaining, and this was taken to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.”
‘Metals in the Service of Man’ by Arthur Street and William Alexander, Pelican Books, 3rd Ed. 1944.
Meteorites and their landing are always given significance. useful too.
“At the start, Peary was kind enough to my people. He made them presents of ornaments, a few knives and guns for hunting and wood to build sledges. But as soon as he was ready to start home his other work began. Before our eyes he packed up the bones of our dead friends and ancestors. To the women’s crying and the men’s questioning he answered that he was taking our dead friends to a warm and pleasant land to bury them. Our sole supply of flint for lighting and iron for hunting and cooking implements was furnished by a huge meteorite. This Peary put aboard his steamer and took from my poor people, who needed it so much. After this he coaxed my father and that brave man Natooka, who were the strongest hunters and the wisest heads for our tribe, to go with him to America. Our people were afraid to let them go, but Peary promised them that they should have Natooka and my father back within a year, and that with them would come a great stock of guns and ammunition, and wood and metal and presents for the women and children … We were crowded into the hold of the vessel and treated like dogs. Peary seldom came near us.”
Minik Wallace Petrone, Penny (January 1992). Northern Voices: Inuit Writing in English. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802077172. I got it here
I was leafing through ‘Metals in The Service of Man’ when this little bit of history cropped up. And a little light googling brought up some more context. Four Inuit died in the US and were dissected, their bones placed on display at the museum after a fake funeral….
A small piece of the colonialism in Greenland while doing some reading around industrialism. But any reading in our history will bring up similar grotesques. US or UK. Funny timing considering Trump’s recent comments on Greenland.
o 