Kenn Harper

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Kenn Harper (aka Ilisaijikutaaq, tall teacher [1] ) is a Canadian writer, historian and former businessman. He is the author of Give Me My Father's Body, an account of Greenland Inuk Minik Wallace, had a regular column on Arctic history in Nunatsiaq News and is a former landlord. [2]

Contents

Early life

Harper relocated to the Arctic in 1966 as a teacher at Broughton Island, now known as Qikiqtarjuaq. [3] He later lived in Padloping Island, Pangnirtung, Arctic Bay (all in the Canadian Eastern Arctic) and Qaanaaq, Greenland, [3] and worked at various times as a teacher, development officer, and entrepreneur. [4] He eventually settled in Iqaluit, Nunavut, where he bought the Arctic Ventures general store, which was previously owned by Bryan Pearson. He sold the company to Arctic Co-operatives Limited in 2012. [3] [5] [6] [7]

Harper became known as a historian of the Arctic. For ten years (2005-2015), he wrote "Taissumani", a regular column on Arctic history in Nunatsiaq News . [8] He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. [3] In 1986 he published Give Me My Father's Body: The Life of Minik, the New York Eskimo, which tells the story of Minik Wallace, a member of the Inughuit or "Polar Eskimo" tribe who was among a group taken by Robert Peary from his home in northwest Greenland to New York City. [9] It was republished under the same title in 2000 by Steerforth Press. In 2017 Steerforth Press published a much-expanded version, containing new information on Minik's life, under the title Minik, The New York Eskimo.

From 2005 to 2017, Harper was Honorary Danish Consul, an unpaid posting in Iqaluit. [10] On 9 June 2014, Harper was recognized by the Government of Denmark for his work with the presentation of the Order of the Dannebrog. The appointment of Ridder (Knight) had been made in April and was approved by the Government of Canada. [1]

Harper is also an enthusiastic wrestling fan, notable for bringing Maximum Pro Wrestling to Iqaluit as a charity show to raise money for youth sports. [11]

Harper is fluent in English, Inuktitut and conversational Danish.

Works

Related Research Articles

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Iqaluit is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on which the city is situated. The northernmost city in Canada, its traditional Inuktitut name was restored in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuit languages</span> Branch of the Eskaleut language family

The Inuit languages are a closely related group of indigenous American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and the adjacent subarctic regions as far south as Labrador. The Inuit languages are one of the two branches of the Eskimoan language family, the other being the Yupik languages, which are spoken in Alaska and the Russian Far East. Most Inuit people live in one of three countries: Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark; Canada, specifically in Nunavut, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories, the Nunavik region of Quebec, and the Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut regions of Labrador; and the United States, specifically in northern and western Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Peary</span> American Arctic explorer (1856–1920)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pond Inlet</span> Place in Nunavut, Canada

Pond Inlet is a small, predominantly Inuit community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada, located on northern Baffin Island. To the Inuit the name of the place "is and always has been Mittimatalik." The Scottish explorer Sir John Ross had named an arm of the sea that separates Bylot Island from Baffin Island as Pond's Bay, and the hamlet now shares that name. On 29 August 1921, the Hudson's Bay Company opened its trading post near the Inuit camp and named it Pond Inlet, marking the expansion of its trading empire into the High Arctic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Island</span> Island shared by Canada and Greenland, Denmark

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuktitut</span> Name of several Inuit languages spoken in Canada

Inuktitut, also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, to some extent in northeastern Manitoba as well as the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It is one of the aboriginal languages written with Canadian Aboriginal syllabics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minik Wallace</span> Inuit child

Minik Wallace was an Inughuaq (Inuk) brought as a child in 1897 from Greenland to New York City with his father and others by the explorer Robert Peary. The six Inuit were studied by staff of the American Museum of Natural History, which had custody. The adults and one child died soon of tuberculosis (TB), and one young man was returned to Greenland. After deceiving Minik with a staged burial, the museum put the skeleton of his father on exhibit. Minik was adopted by William Wallace, the museum's building superintendent, and did not return to Greenland until after 1910. He returned to the United States a few years later, where he remained and worked until dying of influenza in the 1918 pandemic.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nunavut</span> Territory of Canada

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The Ahiarmiut ᐃᓴᓪᒥᐅᑦ or Ihalmiut or are a group of inland Inuit who lived along the banks of the Kazan River, Ennadai Lake, and Little Dubawnt Lake, as well as north of Thlewiaza River, in northern Canada's Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories, now the Kivalliq Region of present-day Nunavut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuit</span> Indigenous peoples of northern North America

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Kleinschmidt</span>

Samuel Petrus Kleinschmidt was a German/Danish missionary linguist born in Greenland known for having written extensively about the Greenlandic language and having invented the orthography used for writing this language from 1851 to 1973. He also translated parts of the Bible into Greenlandic.

George Michanowsky is known for his interpretation of rock art in Bolivia and Mesopotamian artefacts which he interpreted as referring to a supernova explosion in the Vela (constellation) which he dated to about 6000 years ago. He is described by Kenn Harper as a having "claimed to be a self-taught archaeologist, linguist, Egyptologist, epigrapher, and expert in Mesopotamian astronomy.

Aviaq Johnston is a Canadian Inuk writer from Igloolik, currently living in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Her debut young adult novel Those Who Run in the Sky won the inaugural Indigenous Voices Award for English Prose. The novel was also a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature at the 2017 Governor General's Awards, and for the Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts</span> Arts centre

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Simonie Michael was a Canadian politician from the eastern Northwest Territories who was the first Inuk elected to a legislature in Canada. Before becoming involved in politics, Michael worked as a carpenter and business owner, and was one of very few translators between Inuktitut and English. He became a prominent member of the Inuit co-operative housing movement and a community activist in Iqaluit, and was appointed to a series of governing bodies, including the precursor to the Iqaluit City Council.

John Amagoalik is an Inuit politician from Nunavik (Québec). He campaigned for Inuit rights and made a significant contribution to the founding of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. He was Chairman of the Nunavut Implementation Commission and is widely regarded as the "Father of Nunavut".

References

  1. 1 2 Nunavut historian, linguist, teacher, businessman becomes Danish knight
  2. Chavich, Cinda (11 February 2003). "Arctic hot for Northern Property". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Harper, Arctic historian, knighted by Denmark
  4. Give Me My Father's Body : The Life of Minik, The New York Eskimo, book jacket biography
  5. A Nunavut institution changes hands: ACL buys Arctic Ventures
  6. "Politics involved in Nutrition North: businessman". CBC News. 2 June 2011.
  7. Extreme shopping - Iqaluit
  8. Taissumanni, a weekly article of historical interest by Harper, published in the Nunatsiaq News
  9. Kenn Harper at Salon.com
  10. "Harper named Danish honorary consul". Nunatsiaq News . 7 October 2005. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  11. "Maximum Pro Wrestling in Iqaluit, Nunavut - Arctic Classic 2011". Maximum Pro Wrestling . Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  12. "In Those Days: Tales of Arctic Whaling". Inhabit Media. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  13. "In Those Days: Shamans, Spirits, and Faith in the Inuit North". Inhabit Media. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  14. "In Those Days: Inuit and Explorers". Inhabit Media. Retrieved 3 June 2022.