KABLOONAS

KABLOONAS
Burial of John Franklin. Author: me

KABLOONAS

Kabloonas is the way in which the Inuit who live in the north part of Canada call those who haven´t their same ascendency.

The first time i read this word was in the book "Fatal Passage" by Ken McGoogan, when, as the result of the conversations between John Rae and some inuit, and trying to find any evidence of the ill-fated Sir John Franklin Expedition, some of then mentioned that they watched how some kabloonas walked to die in the proximities of the river Great Fish.

I wish to publish this blog to order and share all those anecdotes that I´ve been finding in the arctic literature about arctic expeditions. My interest began more than 15 years ago reading a little book of my brother about north and south pole expeditions. I began reading almost all the bibliography about Antarctic expeditions and the superknown expeditions of Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton, etc. After I was captured by the Nansen, Nobile and Engineer Andree. But the most disturbing thing in that little book, full of pictures, was the two pages dedicated to the last Franklin expedition of the S.XIX, on that moment I thought that given the time on which this and others expeditions happened, few or any additional information could be obtained about it. I couldn´t imagine that after those two pages It would be a huge iceberg full of stories, unresolved misteries, anecdotes, etc. I believe that this iceberg, on the contrary than others, would continue growing instead melting.



jueves, 27 de junio de 2013

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION GAMES

The last and lost Franklin expedition has inspired hundreds of books, some of them historical books, others fiction ones, other times it has insired poems even and songs.. but what it is perhaps less known is that this ill-fated expedition has also inspired the construction of some toys and even recently  has also inspired new and fascinating board games.
 
The first and oldest toy which I know is this item done likely by Roullet & Decamps. This kind of figures are called Automaton. This particular one could have been done in the late 19th. On this Automaton one of the sailors is persecuted by a Polar Bear while he climbs a ladder. The other sailor tries to defend himself from the bear waving an ice axe.
 
http://p2.la-img.com/364/23050/8108525_1_l.jpg
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/8108525
Source: http://www.liveauctioneers.com


 
Much more recently, in 2009, Russell Potter found this original replica of one of the famous Goldner red tins:
 
 
In 2012, three Spanish guys had the happy idea of making a board game based on the idea of the location of the Northwest Passage in the nineteenth century. The Board game is called "Northwest Passage adventure", apparently it has been done with the utmost careful and it has been based on accurate historical characters, ships and facts.
 
It seems that it is a funny game, besides the appearance, (box, the cards, etc.), is more than attractive for those who are captivated for the history of the discovery of the Northwest Passage. In the game you can play the role of characters as famous as John Richardson, Thomas Simpson, Robert McLure, John Franklin, William E. Parry, etc. You can find a more detailed description and pictures of the game here:
 
 
But this year, or better said, this month, a French man Yves Tourigny  has developed a new board game which is called "Expedition: Northwest Passage", a new board game on which, the objective is basically going to the Canadian arctic archipiélago to locate the lost Franklin expedition, you have to deal with blocked ice passages, obtain information from the inuits, find lost cairns, etc. this game seems to be, as its predecesor, a funny and fascinating board game:
 
 
What is going to come now? A videogame? A rol game?, 
 
What is clear is that the fascination that the Northwest Passage, the Franklin expedition and other related facts exerts over the public is deriving towards new horizons, which in this modern world on which we live of unlimited computerized possibilites, is sure that is going to amaze us soon.