The tragic story of this famous meteorite
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Published 2024-01-19
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In 1897, American explorer Robert Peary returned from his latest Arctic expedition to Greenland with an enormous iron meteorite, which he had taken from a small tribe of Greenlandic Inuit, the Inughuit. Also on board his ship were six Inughuit. Peary had convinced them to come with him to New York to be studied by the American Museum of Natural History in exchange for guns and tools. But soon after getting back to New York, Peary left on a promotional speaking tour. The six Inughuit never saw him again.
Within a few months of exposure to the warmer climate, four of the Inughuit — Qisuk, Nuktaq, Atangana, and Aviaq — had died of respiratory disease. And another, Uisaakasak, asked to return to Greenland on one of Peary’s ships. The only Inuk left was 9-year-old Minik, Qisuk’s son. The museum officials told Minik they buried his father’s body, but that was a lie. They had actually stored Qisuk’s remains inside the museum to study.
Minik grew up in New York and went by the name Mene Wallace. In 1907, he learned the truth about his father and publicly pleaded with the museum to return Qisuk’s remains to him so he could give him a proper burial, but the museum refused. Minik eventually returned to Greenland on one of Peary’s ships in 1909 and needed to relearn Inughuit customs and his native language, Inuktun.
The American Museum of Natural History kept the remains of the four Inughuit who died in its care until 1993. Today, there is no mention inside the museum of Minik or the other five Inughuit brought to New York in 1897. The giant meteorite Peary took, however, remains a signature exhibit.
Further reading:
“Minik the New York Eskimo” – Kenn Harper’s updated follow-up to his original book about Minik, “Give Me My Father’s Body”
steerforth.com/product/minik-the-new-york-eskimo-9…
“Inuit Voices: Inuit Writing in English” – this book features writing from Minik
archive.org/details/northernvoicesin0000unse/page/…
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All Comments (21)
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We use a few different terms in this video to describe indigenous people — including Inuit, Inughuit, and Inuk. If you’re curious to learn more about how to describe Inuit, take a look at this “Style Guide for Reporting on Indigenous People” from Journalists for Human Rights: jhr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/JHR2017-Style-Bo… Thanks for watching. -Coleman
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It really can't be understated how infuriating it is that all of this was done just so a rock could sit in a room for people to gawk at.
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OMG, I just took my daughter to see it the past weekend, and the weekend before. We heard two different guides telling us all about how heavy it was, how difficult it was to transport it to the museum, and all about the rainbow color columns to support it at the office downstairs. Nothing about the tragedy was ever mentioned... Thank you so much for bringing this history to light.
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I remember going to the museum as a child and falling in love with the meteorite Never in my wildest dreams did I think this was stolen from a people along with the bodies of innocent humans who lost their lives for absolutely nothing It’s true there is 0 mention of of the people who were kidnapped And I’ve been going to the museum since I was 5 years old and now I’m 30 It’s sad really really sad
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Honestly, I love visiting museums, but museums need to do a better job of being transparent and showing integrity. Items that were taken improperly need to be returned, or if applicable, compensation needs to be paid to the people these items were stolen from.
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I really appreciate these kinds of critical videos that force us to reckon with the history and actions of the past that have shaped the ways we live today. It's a stark reminder not to fall blindly for imperialist lies, and how even something as seemingly innocuous as a chunk of rock has had real human costs.
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This needs to be a movie.
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The museum needs to acknowledge this story on their gallery, engage with the Inughuit and if they want the meteorite back, give it back.
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"Then an American explorer hungry for fame and fortune..." This is our world's equivalent of "then the Fire Nation attacked"
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The timing of this video can't be better. We in Nunavut just went through a historical moment where the Canadian government returned the land back to the Inuits. Things are improving bit by bit
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Good journalism that addresses human rights violations.
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Man. I seen this meteorite dozens of times and appreciate this hidden insight to its nature. Shame on who ever was in charge that would not grant this man his father’s remains.
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this Peary guy seems like a true villain
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It's a story many of us here in Greenland already know about, but I'm really glad that it is told in such an informal way. Thank you! Side note: Your pronunciation is good!
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I know there's probably no correlation but "Minik" means "small, tiny" in Turkish and is a term of endearment. Which breaks my heart even more. Poor Minik.
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minik deserved so much more in life
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It's heartbreaking that Minik didn't even express anger when talking about the museum, he just said "give my fathers body back, so I can give him a burial" and they denied it.
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Pieces like these is why I follow this channel, an incredibly meaningful piece that was worth every minute of my time
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In the 1900's Coney Island had held an exhibition of Filipinos to be displayed while in the Bronx Zoo a Congolese family; this is as egregious if not worse.
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Now everyone knows why the Sentinelese natives are so agressive towards strangers. Cause depraved things like this always happen. They are smart.
