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NORTHERN LIGHTS SERIES
Copublished with the Arctic Institute of North America
issn 1701-0004 (print) issn 1925-2943 (online)
This series takes up the geographical region of the North (circumpolar regions within the zone of discontinuous permafrost) and publishes works from all areas of northern scholarship, including natural sciences, social sciences, earth sciences, and the humanities.
No. 1 · Nunavik: Inuit-Controlled Education in Arctic Quebec Ann Vick-Westgate · Copublished with the Katutjiniq Regional Development Council
No. 2 · Many Faces of Gender: Roles and Relationships through Time in Northern Indigenous Communities Edited by Lisa Frink, Rita S. Shepard, and Gregory A. Reinhardt · Copublished with University Press of Colorado
No. 3 · New Owners in their Own Land: Minerals and Inuit Land Claims Robert McPherson
No. 4 · War North of 80: The Last German Arctic Weather Station of World War II Wilhelm Dege, translated and edited by William Barr · Copublished with University Press of Colorado
No. 5 · Writing Geographical Exploration: Thomas James and the Northwest Passage 1631–33 Wayne K.D. Davies
No. 6 · As Long as This Land Shall Last: A History of Treaty 8 and Treaty 11, 1870–1939 René Fumoleau
No. 7 · Breaking Ice: Renewable Resource and Ocean Management in the Canadian North Edited by Fikret Berkes, Rob Huebert, Helen Fast, Micheline Manseau, and Alan Diduck
No. 8 · Alliance and Conflict: The World System of the Inupiaq Eskimos Ernest S. Burch · Copublished with the University of Nebraska Press
No. 9 · Tanana and Chandalar: The Alaska Field Journals of Robert A. McKennan Edited by Craig Mishler and William E. Simeone · Copublished with University of Alaska Press
No. 10 · Resurrecting Dr. Moss: The Life and Letters of a Royal Navy Surgeon, Edward Lawton Moss, MD, RN, 1837–1880 Paul C. Appleton, edited by William Barr
No. 11 · Lands that Hold One Spellbound: A Story of East Greenland Spencer Apollonio
No. 12 · Biocultural Diversity and Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Human Ecology in the Arctic Karim-Aly S. Kassam
No. 13 · Arctic Scientist, Gulag Survivor: The Biography of Mikhail Mikhailovich Ermolaev, 1905–1991 A.M. Ermolaev and V.D. Dibner, translated and edited by William Barr
No. 14 · The Reindeer Botanist: Alf Erling Porsild, 1901–1977 Wendy Dathan
No. 15 · The Fast-Changing Arctic: Rethinking Arctic Security for a Warmer World Edited by Barry Scott Zellen
No. 16 · Shipwreck at Cape Flora: The Expeditions of Benjamin Leigh Smith, England’s Forgotten Arctic Explorer P.J. Capelotti
No. 17 · A Historical and Legal Study of Sovereignty in the Canadian North: Terrestrial Sovereignty, 1870–1939 Gordon W. Smith, edited by P. Whitney Lackenbauer
No. 18 · Baffin Island: Field Research and High Arctic Adventure, 1961–1967 Jack D. Ives
© 2016 Jack D. Ives
University of Calgary Press
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2N 1N4
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This book is available as an ebook which is licensed under a Creative Commons license. The publisher should be contacted for any commercial use which falls outside the terms of that license.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Ives, Jack D., author
Baffin Island : field research and high Arctic adventure, 1961-1967 / Jack D. Ives.
(Northern lights series, ISSN 1701-0004 ; no. 18)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-55238-829-7 (paperback).–ISBN 978-1-55238-831-0 (pdf).–
ISBN 978-1-55238-830-3 (open access pdf).–ISBN 978-1-55238-832-7 (epub).–
ISBN 978-1-55238-833-4 (mobi)
1. Ives, Jack D.–Travel–Nunavut–Baffin Island. 2. Geographers–Travel–Nunavut–Baffin Island. 3. Geographers–Canada–Biography. 4. Geography–Fieldwork–Nunavut–Baffin Island–History–20th century. 5. Arctic regions–Research–Canada–History–20th century. 6. Research–Government policy–Canada–History–20th century. 7. Baffin Island (Nunavut)–History–20th century. I. Title. II. Series: Northern lights series ; no. 18
G69.I94A3 2016 910.92 C2016-900034-6
C2016-900035-4
The University of Calgary Press acknowledges the support of the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Media Fund for our publications. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program.
Copy editing and indexing by Alison Jacques
Cover design, page design, and typesetting by Melina Cusano
E-book conversion by Human Powered Design
Front Cover
Base camp on Inugsuin Fiord at 69°40' N, 70°00' W. The view is toward the northeast along the fiord; the main building and tents (at centre) are just beyond the open water. The river, enlarged by melting snow, ensures local clearing of the fiord ice cover in the small embayment (good for swimming, with sandy beach!). Government icebreakers were able to approach within 150 metres of the beach. The camp, which was the centre of expedition operations for the 1965–1967 field seasons, lies more than one hundred kilometres inland from Baffin Bay, beyond Clyde River settlement. (Photo: July 1966)
Frontispiece
In the 1960s, the mountains, ice caps, and glaciers of the northeastern section of Baffin Island were virtually unknown to most Canadians. Even today, except to the local Inuit and a growing, but still small, number of mountaineers anxious to test their skills, the region remains a “lost” section of Canada. (Photo: July 1965)
To
Cuchlaine and Olav
Lifelong friends
and loyal colleagues
Table of Contents
Foreword by the Honourable Peter Adams
Introduction: The Context of Geographical Research in Canada’s Arctic in the 1960s
Chapter 1 Baffin Island: The Place and the Research
Chapter 2 Reconnaissance 1961: Learning about Airborne Support
Chapter 3 Building the Team and Developing Credibility
Chapter 4 Baffin 1962: Ice Mining on the Barnes Ice Cap
Chapter 5 Expanding Baffin Research and Wider Reconnaissance, 1963
Chapter 6 Initiatives and Growth in Baffin Operations, 1963–1964
Chapter 7 Glaciology in the Rockies Added to Baffin Studies, 1965
Chapter 8 Summit Experiences and East Coast Research, 1966
Chapter 9 Last Year of Baffin Island Activities by the Geographical Branch, 1966–1967
Chapter 10 Career Development of Members of the Field Team
Chapter 11 Assessment of the Scientific Results
Glaciers and Glacial Landforms
Appendix A: Major Publications Influenced by the Baffin Island Expeditions