A.H. Joy (1887-1932)

Inspector Alfred Herbert Joy of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is best known for a remarkable 1800-mile (2900-km) patrol by dogsled across the heart of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in 1929. He had a keen interest in and extensive knowledge of the Arctic, its wildlife and people, and was dedicated to upholding the law and jurisdiction of Canada in isolated arctic regions. ... In 1921, following Canada's decision to extend jurisdiction into the Arctic Islands, Joy was selected to represent the government at Pond Inlet, northern Baffin Island. Soon after his arrival he undertook investigation of the Janes murder case. Joy travelled to Cape Crauford in December, where he found and exhumed Janes's body and conducted an autopsy. Later, in his capacity as coroner, he held an inquest and gathered a jury, the accused, and witnesses from as far away as Igloolik, in addition to presiding as Justice of the Peace at the trial. Following the trial he received a notable tribute from Mr. Justice Rivet for his outstanding work on this case-particularly for his thoroughness and fairness. He had enforced the law in the Arctic Islands for the first time. In 1924, Joy made a hair-raising attempt to cross Lancaster Sound by dogsled from northern Baffin Island to test the practicability of communicating with the R.C.M.P. detachment on Ellesmere Island. ... After 1925, when Joy took over detachments on eastern Ellesmere Island (Craig Harbour, Bache Peninsula) and Devon Island (Dundas Harbour), he began a series of long exploratory patrols across the Queen Elizabeth Islands which would do credit to any great polar explorer. During these trips he was able to correct errors on maps, explore new sled routes, make notes on wildlife, vegetation, coal outcrops, archaeological sites, sites of historic interest, weather, and sea-ice conditions. His detailed remarks on the numbers and migration of Peary caribou among the Queen Elizabeth Islands and the long distances arctic hares can travel on their hind legs are of great biological interest. He also foresaw new ways of patrolling the High Arctic, stating: "It would be possible, if necessary, I believe, to carry on an extensive survey of the islands west of Eureka sound by aeroplane." He made important biological and archaeological collections for what is now the national Museums of Canada. His collection of 700 specimens from a Palaeo-Eskimo site was acknowledged by the Chief of the Division of Anthropology to be ... "one of the most valuable accessions that the Division has received since I took charge of it in 1910." ... Joy's end was tragic. He died at the age of 43, apparently of a stroke, on the morning of the day he was to be married in Ottawa. ..

The Eastern Limit of Beringia: Mammoth Remains from Banks and Melville Islands, Northwest Territories

Two mammoth fossils (presumably woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius) from northwestern Banks and southwestern Melville Islands, Northwest Territories, Canada, have been radiocarbon-dated to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), at 21 000 and 22 000 14CYBP, respectively. These fossils not only are the northernmost mammoth records for North America, but also indicate that the Mammoth Steppe and Beringia extended eastward at least to Ballast Brook, Banks Island (74.3? N, 123.1? W), and possibly to the Cape James Ross area of Melville Island (75.7? N, 114.4? W). The specimens, a tibia and a tusk, probably represent woolly mammoths that moved northeastward from the Mackenzie Delta region during the LGM, when worldwide sea level had dropped about 120 m, leaving large tracts of sea bottom exposed off the Beaufort Sea coast and the west coast of Banks Island (then largely clear of glacial ice). Evidently herb tundra rich enough to supply the mammoths’ needs characterized the regional landscape at that time. It is proposed that the term “Beringia” be used in the broad sense where evidence exists for a land connection between Asia and North America, regardless of its cause(s) and its supposed westerly or easterly limits, and that “Beringia” be used in a standard way: followed by its geological age in parentheses. Also, the term “Bering Isthmus” seems preferable to the commonly used “Bering Land Bridge.”Grâce à la datation au carbone 14, on a déterminé que deux fossiles de mammouths (probablement des mammouths laineux, Mammuthus primigenius) de l’île Banks au nord-ouest et de l’île Melville au sud-ouest, dans les Territoires du Nord- Ouest, au Canada, remontent au dernier maximum glaciaire (DMG), soit à 21 000 et à 22 000 14C BP, respectivement. Non seulement ces fossiles représentent les restes de mammouths trouvés les plus au nord de l’Amérique du Nord, mais ils permettent également d’indiquer que la steppe à mammouth et la Béringie s’étendaient vers l’est tout au moins jusqu’à Ballast Brook, sur l’île Banks (74,3? N, 123,1? O), et peut-être même jusqu’à la région du cap James Ross de l’île Melville (75,7? N, 114,4? O). Les spécimens, soit un tibia et une défense, représentent probablement les restes de mammouths laineux qui se sont déplacés vers le nord-est à partir de la région du delta du Mackenzie pendant le DMG, lorsque le niveau de la mer à l’échelle planétaire avait baissé d’environ 120 m, ce qui avait découvert de grandes bandes de fond marin sur la côte de la mer de Beaufort et sur la côte ouest de l’île Banks (qui n’avait à l’époque que peu de glace glaciaire). Il est évident qu’une toundra herbeuse assez riche pour subvenir aux besoins des mammouths caractérisait le paysage de la région à l’époque. On propose que le terme « Béringie » soit utilisé dans son sens large lorsqu’il existe des preuves selon lesquelles l’Asie et l’Amérique du Nord auraient été raccordés, sans égard à sa ou ses causes et à ses limites ouest et est présumées, et que « Béringie » soit employé de manière standard, c’est-à-dire qu’il soit suivi de son âge géologique entre parenthèses. Aussi, l’expression « isthme de Béring » semble préférable à l’expression « pont continental de Béring » couramment utilisée

Nookapingwa (1893-1956)

Nookapingwa was one of the best hunters and most experienced dogsled travellers in northernmost Canada and Greenland during the first half of the 20th century. He played a crucial role in the European exploration of the Queen Elizabeth Islands and northern Greenland, having acted as a guide and hunter for such explorers, scientists and government officials as Donald B. MacMillan, Lauge Koch, officers for the royal Canadian Mounted Police (notably Inspector A.H. Joy and Staff-Sergeant H.W. Stallworthy), Edward Shackleton and David Haig-Thomas. He was instrumental in many of their achievements and sometimes their survival. Nookapingwa was born in the summer of 1893 in the Thule district of northern Greenland. ... [This profile chronicles his participation in and contribution to various expeditions in and around Greenland and the District of Franklin. He was renowned for his ability to hunt, to navigate through difficult terrain and conditions and survival skills.] Several geographic features have been named after Nookapingwa: Nookap Island (off th north coast of Devon Island); Mount Nukap (1783 m) and Nukap Glacier (both near the head of Gilman Glacier, northern Ellesmere Island); Nukapingwa Glacier and Nukapinwa River (north of Borup Fiord, northern Ellesmere Island)

H.W. Stallworthy (1895-1976)

Sergeant-Major Henry Webb Stallworthy of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police came to prominence following an arduous 1400-mile (2250-km) dogsled journey in search of the German explorer Dr. H.K.E. Krueger in 1932, during which he circumnavigated Axel Heiberg Island. Much of Stallworthy's 31 years with the R.C.M.P. was spent in isolated parts of northern Canada. He was tough, energetic, unassuming, devoted to duty, and expert at arctic travelling - qualities that led to his secondment to the 1934-35 Oxford University Ellesmere Land Expedition. ..

Radiocarbon Dates on Some Quaternary Mammals and Artifacts from Northern North America

Nine radiocarbon dates on five genera of Quaternary mammals from northern North America are discussed. Of particular interest are: (a) a 29,000-year-old artifact from the Yukon Territory; (b) the first evidence that steppe mammoths (Mammathus columbi or M. armeniacus) occupied eastern Beringia during the peak of the Wisconsin glaciation; (c) dates indicating that saiga antelopes (Saiga tatarica) and Yukon short-faced bears (Arctodus simus yukonensis) occupied the Yukon-Alaska region in mid-Wisconsin time; (d) dates indicating that bison (Bison sp.) lived near the arctic coast of the Northwest Territories, and tundra muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) lived in the western Yukon in late postglacial time; and (e) dates suggesting that tundra muskoxen have occupied the central Canadian Arctic Islands for the last 7000 years

Evidence for Human Modification of a Late Pleistocene Bison (Bison sp.) Bone from the Klondike District, Yukon Territory, Canada

A 31 000 BP bison limb bone from Nugget Gulch near Dawson City, Yukon, shows a "ring crack" considered to be a human-made impact mark resulting in exposure of marrow. This bone is approximately contemporaneous with wolf, horse, and Dall sheep specimens found on an ancient Mid-Wisconsinan terrain surface at this locality. Similar ring cracks, also interpreted as human-made, have been noted on late-glacial bison bones from Engigstciak, Yukon, and Lost Chicken Creek, Alaska.Un os de membre de bison datant de 31 000 ans av. J.-C. et provenant de Nugget Gulch près de Dawson City au Yukon, montre une "fissure circulaire" que l'on considère être la marque d'un impact donné par un être humain pour mettre la moelle à nu. Cet os est à peu près contemporain de spécimens provenant de loups, de chevaux et de mouflons de Dall trouvés au même endroit, à la surface d'un ancien terrain datant du milieu du wisconsinien. On a remarqué des fissures circulaires semblables, que l'on a aussi interprétées comme découlant d'une action humaine, sur des os de bison du tardiglaciaire trouvés à Engigstciak au Yukon et à Lost Chicken Creek en Alaska

Radiocarbon Dates on Saiga Antelope (Saiga Tatarica) Fossils from Yukon and the Northwest Territories

Saiga antelopes (Saiga tatarica), presently confined to Central Asia, spread westward to England and eastward to the Northwest Territories of Canada during the late Pleistocene. Two saiga cranial fragments from the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories have yielded radiocarbon dates of 13 390 ±180 and 14 920 ±160 B.P. respectively. Thus, saigas occupied the easternmost part of their known Pleistocene range toward the close of the Wisconsinan glaciation. Saigas probably died out between 13 000 and 10 000 years ago in North America because of rapid changes in climate and plantscapes occurring about that time, as former steppe-like terrain was replaced by spruce forest and tundra.Key words: saiga antelope, Saiga tatarica, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, late Pleistocene, vertebrate fossilsLa saïga, ou antilope des steppes,(Saiga tatarica) qu'on ne trouve actuellement qu'en Asie centrale, couvrait pendant le pléistocène tardif un territoire s'étendant vers l'ouest jusqu'à l'Angleterre et vers l'est jusqu'aux Territoires du Nord-Ouest du Canada. Deux fragments de crâne de saïga venant du Territoire du Yukon et des Territoires du Nord-Ouest ont donné par radiodatation un âge de 13 390 ± 180 et de 14 920 ± 160 BP respectivement. La saïga occupait donc la région la plus orientale de son territoire connu au pléistocène, vers la fin de la glaciation du Wisconsin. La saïga a probablement disparu il y a environ 13 000 à 10 000 ans en Amérique du Nord en raison des changements rapides dans le climat et les paysages végétaux qui se produisirent à cette époque, alors que la pessière et la toundra remplacèrent le terrain steppique.Mots clés: saïga, Saiga tatarica, Territoire du Yukon, Territoires du Nord-Ouest, pléistocène tardif, fossiles de vertébré

A Late Pleistocene Antler Artifact from the Klondike District, Yukon Territory, Canada

A modified caribou antler, interpreted as a flintknapper's punch, was collected with hundreds of other Pleistocene mammal bones at Hunker Creek near Dawson City, Yukon Territory. It has yielded a radiocarbon date of 11,350 ± 110 B.P. by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Although the specimen was not found in stratigraphic context, we infer its probable burial history from its radiocarbon age and surface alteration, and its artifactual nature from the way it has been modified. Since it is contemporaneous with Alaskan and Yukon sites containing core and blade technology, the punch may have been used for indirect percussion flaking of stone tools and preforms.Key words: caribou, Rangifer tarandus, Yukon Territory, late Pleistocene, bone toolRÉSUMÉ. Un bois de caribou modifié, que l’on pense être un poinçon pour éclater la pierre, a été recueilli avec des centaines d’autres os de mammifères du pléistoctne au ruisseau Hunker près de Dawson, dans le Yukon. La datation par le radiocarbone, par spectrométrie de masse par accélérateur, a donné 11 350 ≠ 110 avant le présent. Bien que le spécimen n’ait pas été découvert dans un contexte stratigraphique, on déduit l’historique probable de son enfouissement d’après sa datation par le radiocarbone et l’altération de sa surface, et on déduit son caractère de matériau façonné à partir des modifications qu’il a subies. Vu qu’il est contemporain de sites alaskiens et yukonnais renfermant des matériaux appartenant à la technologie du nucléus et de la lame, le poinçon a pu être utilisé pour le débitage par percussion indirecte d’outils et d’ébauches en pierre.Mots clés: caribou, Rangifer turandus, temtoire du Yukon, pléistocène tardif, outil en o