Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913-1918 commemorated

The Mary Sachs, one of the expedition vessels.

From 1913 to 1918 the Canadian Arctic Expedition located and mapped unoccupied islands in the far north and studied the Western Arctic and Victoria island.

Yesterday, this first major Canadian government research study undertaken in the North was commemorated at a ceremony at the  Vancouver Maritime Museum.

The ceremony included the unveiling of a Historic Sites and Monuments Board plaque marking the expedition as an event of national historic significance. 

The expedition, organized by Vihjalmur Stefansson, set out from Esquimalt Harbour on June 17, 1913. It was divided into the Northern Party, commanded by Stephansson, and a Southern Party led by zoologist Rudolph Anderson.

The expedition ships were headed for Herschel Island, but as a result of unusually harsh conditions all were frozen in before reaching their destination.

Eleven crew members died after the principal ship of the expedition, the Karluk, was carried off and eventually crushed by the ice. Six others died during the course of the expedition, which continued with newly purchased ships the North Star and the Polar Bear. 

As well as discovering land previously unknown even to the Inuit, including Brock, Mackenzie King, Borden, Meighen and Lougheed Islands, the expedition collected many animal, plant and rock specimens, cultural objects, and film and photographic records of Inuit life. The mission's legacy is reflected in the name of Sachs Harbour, named for the expedition's abandoned ship, the Mary Sachs.

A champion of Arctic development, Stephansson became known as the "prophet of the North," but was considered arrogant and a charlatan in some quarters. He later became widely discredited over a failed scheme to raise reindeer in the North, and his unauthorized claiming of Wrangel Island, north of Siberia, for Canada in 1921, which caused an international incident.

Another expedition participant was celebrated anthropologist Diamond Jenness, who took part in the traditional life of the Copper Inuit around Coronation Gulf.

The commemorative plaque was unveiled by Dr. Colin Carrie, parliamentary secretary to environment minister Leonna Aglukkaq. 

Two examples of the plaque will be installed, one at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse national historic sites, overlooking Esquimalt Harbour in British Columbia, and one in Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories.

The Government of Canada originally recognized the historic significance of the Canadian Arctic Expedition in 1925 and a plaque was originally erected in Ottawa.