Eenoolooapik

Eenoolooapik (c. 1820 – 1847), also spelled Inuluapik, was an Inuit hunter and guide who served with British whaler William Penny and visited Scotland.

Penny brought him back to Scotland, believing that his presence in Britain could convince the Royal Navy to sponsor an official expedition to Tenudiakbeek,[1]: 59–60  not knowing it was the same body of water referred to by earlier explorers as the Cumberland Strait or Northumberland Inlet.

Penny presented gifts to Nootaapik and her family (including the infant Taqulittuq), and Eenoolooapik received her begrudging consent to depart from Aggijjat.

Quick to adjust to western clothing and pick up English words, he frequently drew sketches to communicate when explaining unfamiliar concepts.

Penny attempted to teach Eenoolooapik reading and writing during his recovery, but he lost interest in study after learning the alphabet, seeing it as having no practical use.

Eenoolooapik was homesick and eager to return home, but enjoyed large amounts of gifts given to him by local Scots; a £20 Treasury grant was given to his supporters who supplied him with cooking utensils, firearms, and clothing.

The Bon Accord hunted whales for several weeks in Melville Bay, but withdrew after its sister ship, the Hecla, was crushed by ice.

Ice conditions additionally blocked a return to Aggijjat and his mother, and the Bon Voyage was forced to proceed south towards Cumberland Sound, joined by two Newcastle whaling ships.

[1]: 66  After exploring the northern reaches of the sound, the Bon Accord stopped at Qimisuk on 20 August, and Eenoolooapik was given leave to depart the ship with a party of sixty Inuit.

Portrait of William Penny in winter clothing in the Arctic.
Captain William Penny in the Arctic, 1853