Bloody Falls Massacre
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The Massacre at Bloody Falls was an incident that took place during Samuel Hearne's exploration of the Coppermine River on July 17, 1771. Chipewyan Dene warriors led by Hearne's guide and companion Matonabbee discovered a group of local Copper Inuit[1] camped by rapids approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) upstream from the mouth of the Coppermine. Just after midnight on July 17, the Chipewyan set upon the Inuit camp and killed approximately 20 men, women and children. Hearne was traumatized by the massacre, saying "...and I am confident that my features must have feelingly expressed how sincerely I was affected at the barbarous scene I then witnessed; even at this hour I cannot reflect on the transactions of that horrid day without shedding tears.",[2] and named the waterfall Bloody Falls.[3]
The site of the massacre is now located in Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park near Kugluktuk, Nunavut. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1978.
In 1996, Dene and Inuit representatives participated in a healing ceremony to reconcile the centuries-old grievance.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Condon, Richard G. (1987). Inuit youth : growth and change in the Canadian Arctic. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. pp. p.25. ISBN 0813512123. http://books.google.com/books?id=0OFkK9JSWYMC&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=%22Copper+Inuit%22&source=web&ots=d04TYWAlbc&sig=sH0iYVjbeKBQTJkOW6uGDkFoCew&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result.
- ^ From: Samuel Hearne, A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 (London, Eng: Strahan and Cadell, 1795) at the University of Western Ontario
- ^ Samuel Hearne's overland expedition, 1770–72 at the National Maritime Museum
- ^ CBC's David McLauchlin dies at 56
[edit] External links
Youth Links - The Story of Bloody Falls Short article written by three Kugluktuk students.
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