Staffe Islet

Staffe Islet

The story of Henry Hudson's mutinous crew passing by Saarqayaat (Digges Island) as told by Inuit is intact. Inuit did not know who they were.

As Peter Audlaluk told me: a story had been passed on to him that Qallunaat killed a man in a qayaq. This is how it happened:

Inuit were in a camp at Saarqayaat. A big boat with sails arrived. The Inuit had never before seen such an image. However, there was a celebration and some trading took place. Something happened. The men from the large boat suddenly fled the camp. There was a fight. Inuit used their bows. There was very loud noise from the big boat and a man in a qayaq was killed. The big boat went away.

As you may have studied in school, you remember that Henry Hudson discovered the bay that bears his name. History shows that he was the first "civilized" man to discover lands around here. In fact, I know that it wasn't such a successful story at all.

What really happened is this. Henry Hudson was hired by merchants and landowners. It was rather like sending the space shuttle into space to explore strange new things. It was a time when men got hanged for mutiny. It was, after all, 1610.

Henry Hudson travelled through Iceland and Greenland then to Nunavik. They were terribly hungry, cold, had bad teeth with rations running out. Henry went around Eric Cove, naming the Kangiqsualuk cape after some important man named Eric. He named the Northern-most cape in Quebec "Cape Wolstenholme", which is actually Anaulirvik. He named the two big islands "Digges Islands", which are actually Saarqayaarq and Qikirtaseett.

Anyway, they were able to kill the Akpyte (razorbill murres) that nest in their hundreds of thousands on Qikirtaseet. The crew was able to get good water and they ate Qunguleet, which are green leaves that are excellent to fight bad teeth.

The crew went on to what is now James Bay. They were searching for the Northwest Passage. They never found it.

They spent a winter. The grumpy crew was not used to such a harsh winter. They made a cabin under very difficult conditions. They also met an Indian a couple of times.

When, finally, the ice cleared, they were able to sail. Henry Hudson, having all the knowledge and a contract, did not seem to make sense to the crew. And so there was a mutiny.

Somewhere near the coast in Hudson Bay, the mutinous crew put Henry, his son John and seven others into a small boat and left them adrift. Nobody knows what happened to them.

The mutinous crew used the log book to navigate. They were intent on going home. They arrived at Saarqayaarq, anchored there where they were greeted by Inuit. That night, the Inuit performed dances and traded a few items.

The next day, the mutinous crew, being suspicious and strange in custom to the Inuit, fled the camp. One of them was wounded by an Inuk using a bow and arrow. On the ship, they used the cannon to shoot at a man in a qayaq and killed him. They weighed anchor and left.

During the return trip, the wounded man died horribly, cursing.

They passed an island and named it Staffe Islet. There they saw the sea-gulls with the young birds. That islet is actually Nauyaat Qaqqanga. Staffe was the second in command in that expedition.

Arriving in England, they had to explain the circumstances that took place. They had the log-book that they did not want to share with the authorities. They appeared in court where the sentence of death by hanging usually was carried out to mutineers. However, because their knowledge of this region was considered priceless, their lives were spared over a delayed period.

The Inuit's testimony of the event that happened in the summer of 1611, survives today. The story is still accurate after all these years.