My main interest at the moment is in researching and gathering information about the spread of the Canadian presence in the High Arctic, in what is now Nunavut, and the relationship between Europeans and the indigenous people of the Arctic archipelago.

In the early 1900's Canada began to move aggressively in establishing and protecting sovereignty over the Canadian Arctic, particularly the High Arctic islands next to Greenland. Canada had obtained sovereignty over the Arctic through British exploration of the Arctic (as in Sir John Franklin's disastrous expedition and the many attempts to find him in the mid-19th century) and claims to the land and islands controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company [HBC]. Canadians were however in competition with other aggressive ventures into the North including by the American's search for the North Pole (particularly Robert Peary), Danish settlements in Greenland and explorations by Norwegians (Amundsen), Swedes, Russians and others.

The Inuit (who used to be called "Esquimaults" or "Eskimos") have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years. Their wishes and needs were pretty much ignored for much of this period. When Canada attempted to solidify its own sovereignty over the Arctic it began to pay more attention to the Inuit.

Partly this was done through the spread of Canadian criminal justice systems throughout the Arctic, including criminal trials of Inuit for various offences and the establishment of RCMP stations in various remote locations. These stations usually contained one or two constables with an Inuit family or families to assist them with hunting, clothing, building shelters, etc. Without Inuit assistance these efforts would not have been possible. The constables patrolled huge areas by dogteam and administered these areas in relation to hunting, fishing, resource exploration, archeological expeditions, protection of parks and wildlife and any outlying communities of people. The stations also acted as post offices, radio communication centre (where possible), missions, trading posts (usually in cooperation with the HBC), medical emergency assistance and customs/immigration.

Posts were established in the High Arctic beginning in the early 1920's, including on Ellemere Island (Craig Harbour and the Bache Peninsula), Devon Island (Dundas Harbour) and Pond Inlet on Baffin Island.

Dundas Harbour was particularly interesting. The two constables assigned to this post were both dead of gunshot wounds soon after their arrival. One is thought to have committed suicide while the other was killed (accidentally or not is unknown) on a hunting expedition. The graves are still at the station along with the well-preserved remains of the buildings.

The mystery is - what happened? I have found some scattered references to the incident, but very little solid information. The RCMP never conducted any official inquiry. The Greenland Inuit families who were there and would have known what happened were never officially questioned. I believe one of the constables kept a diary, but do not know where it can be found. I would like to solve this mystery, or at least write something about it. It's a tragic story of the North where Euro-Canadian RCMP officers (one English and one French) as well as the Inuit in the area were involved in one of Canada's longest and most puzzling mysteries.

Any information?