Polar Pathways: Robert E. Peary's Arctic Expeditions
1893 - Whaling and the Whale Lookout
Inuit men going out on a whaling boat
Whaling is an integral part of Inuit life and it is a rich part of the culture, surrounded by legend and lore. A single whale can feed an entire village for months as well as providing the Inuit with materials for tools. On the Duck Islands, Peary discovered a Whaler’s stone lookout point, which he describes in the following passage:
“I found perched upon it a circular stone wall breast-high, with an opening to the south. This is the Whalers’ lookout, from which, early in the season, they scan the north and north-west for a favourable lead through which their vessels may make their way through the ice.” - Robert E. Peary, Northward over the Great Ice, published in 1898
"Whaleboat returning with party" by Donald Baxter MacMillan, 1908 - 1909, Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum Collections
