, The New York Times ; In a Warming Arctic, a Fight Brews Over the Fabled Northwest Passage
"Countless explorers and researchers had searched fruitlessly for Franklin’s ships.But the Canadian government launched another search in 2008, with a new approach: For the first time, it would turn to Inuit oral history, noting that “local Inuit involvement has been absent in previous searches.”
It took until 2014 to find the Erebus. But Mr. Kamookak was not surprised by its location, south of King William Island, his widow said. It was found where his great-grandmother had told him, next to an islet with the traditional Inuit name of “Umiaqtalik,” or “There is a boat there.”
“You couldn’t get any closer,” said Adrian Schimnowski, who participated in the search as the leader then of the Arctic Research Foundation, a private organization. “It was right there. It was in 40 feet of water, hiding in the shoals.”...
“I heard Sammy’s story in the afternoon and less than 24 hours later, we found the shipwreck,” Mr. Schimnowski said. “You’re wondering, why didn’t anyone listen before?”
“That’s what the Franklin men ran into — that pride,” he added. “They thought they knew better than Indigenous people who were thought of as lesser beings.’’
