Map of Belcher Islands in 1909

Old map of Belcher Islands, Canada, Nunavut.

native explorer. In an article in the Geographical Review in 1918, Robert J. Flaherty (1884--1951) recounted the story of how, while he was searching for iron ore deposits on the east coast of Hudson Bay, Canada, Wetallok explained the intricacies of the bay's island system and shared with him this remarkably accurate Eskimo map, which Flaherty reproduced in the article. Flaherty later became a director and producer whose first film, Nanook of the North (1922), was one of the best known documentaries of the silent-era. Flaherty also told the story of his encounter with Wetallok in his 1924 book, My Eskimo Friends: "Nanook of the North." Recent historians of cartography, notably G. Malcolm Lewis in Cartographic Encounters: Perspectives on Native American Mapmaking and Map Use, and Lewis and David Woodward in History of Cartography, also have used the map as an example of indigenous cartography. The map is drawn with pencil on the back of a missionary lithograph. Notations are in English and Inuktitut syllabics. Flaherty's annotations include "Little Whale River" [with arrow], "Whale River" [with arrow], and "3 days = dogs = app. 70 miles."

Created by Robert Joseph Flaherty, Wetallok in 1909.

• Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
• "Scale 1:330,000"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
• Original resource extent: 1 map : manuscript ; 36 x 31 centimeters.
• Original resource at: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries.
• Content in English and Inuktitut.
• Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Map Tags

1909

Belcher Islands

Canada

Eskimo Cartography

Indians Of North America

Indigenous Peoples

Inuit

Map

Nunavut

Robert Joseph Flaherty

Wetallok