Qalaherriaq (c. 1834 – 1856) was an Inughuit hunter from Cape York in northwestern Greenland. Born around 1834 and baptized Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua, he was taken aboard the British barque HMS Assistance in 1850 as an interpreter during the search for Franklin's lost expedition. He guided the ship to Wolstenholme Fjord to investigate rumors of a massacre of Franklin's crew, but found the corpses of local Inughuit and crew from an unrelated British vessel. Poor sea conditions prevented the Assistance from returning to Qalaherriaq's family, and he was instead taken to England and placed in the custody of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. He was enrolled in St Augustine's College at Canterbury and studied English and Christianity. In 1855, he was tasked by Edward Feild, Bishop of Newfoundland, to join him on a mission to the Labrador Inuit. Qalaherriaq's health problems, which he had developed during his service as an interpreter, worsened after his arrival in Newfoundland, and he died at St. John's in 1856 around 22 years old. (Full article...)
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