Inuits fear the curse of HMS Terror has been reawakened by divers disturbing shipwrecks of doomed Arctic voyage that inspired TV horror series – and is claiming lives in their isolated hamlet
- A number of unexpected deaths reported recently in Gjoa Haven
- Gjoa Haven is hamlet on King William Island in Canada’s Nanavut Territories
- It is inhabited by the indigenous Inuits who say deaths are because of a ‘curse’
- They say divers searching for shipwrecks of Franklin’s lost voyage are to blame
- In 1845 Sir John Franklin’s two British ships tried to cross Northwest Passage
- HMS Erebus and HMS Terror went missing in ice near King William Island
- Remnants of both ships were found in recent years by Canadian divers
A number of deaths in a remote Canadian town near the Arctic Circle is being blamed on ‘cursed’ underwater shipwrecks from a doomed voyage more than 170 years ago.
Gjoa Haven, the only inhabited part of King William Island in Nunavut Territories, is home to a community of indigenous Inuits.
The recent, sudden deaths of six of its residents has locals believing that diving expeditions in search of the wreckage from Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition are provoking the gods, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
In 1845, Franklin led a voyage of explorers in an attempt to locate the Northwest Passage.
Two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic.
All 129 men, including Franklin, a Royal Navy officer, died.
Gjoa Haven, the only inhabited part of King William Island in Nunavut Territories, is home to a community of indigenous Inuits. The above image shows the main street of Gjoa Haven
The above image is a stock photo showing an Inuit mother carrying her baby in the hood of her caribou-skin parka in the Northwest Territories of Canada
Franklin’s HMS Erebus was found in 2014 by Canadian divers
Detail of embossed ‘1845’ on the ship’s bell of HMS Erebus, as photographed in a lab aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier
The recent, sudden deaths of six people in the Canadian Arctic has locals blaming divers who found the shipwreck and invited a ‘curse’ upon the town of Gjoa Haven
In recent years, divers have visited the area in search of the wreckage site on the sea floor.
But the local Inuit community says that the final resting place of those who perished on the doomed voyage is sacred and should be left alone.
‘They feel the wrecks are cursed and should not be disturbed,’ Parks Canada official Tamara Tarasoff said.
Jacob Keanik, a local resident, said: ‘People are superstitious. They feel there is a connection between the deaths and disturbing the wreck sites.’
Keanik’s brother and nephew both drowned in a boating accident after the two ships were discovered.
In 1845, Franklin led a voyage of explorers in an attempt to locate the Northwest Passage. Two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic. The HMS Terror, stuck in the ice, is seen above
The Erebus was found by Canadian divers in 2014, and remnants of the Terror were discovered in 2016.
Residents of Gjoa Haven say ‘non-human’ beings are stalking the ice.
Fred Pedersen of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association told residents: ‘It is only artifacts that are being found and being taken off wreck sites.
‘There are plans in place that if any bodies are found, they will be left in place. We will not bring up or disturb human remains.’
Not long after the Erebus wreck was found, Inuit ‘guardians’ blessed the area in an attempt to stop the ‘curse.’
But there was no such blessing for the Terror.
‘Following the tragedies elders blessed sand from Gjoa Haven and the guardians brought it to the wreck of HMS Terror, where they sprinkled it over the wreck and performed a blessing,’ said Dominique Tessier of Parks Canada.
‘The blessing was led by Inuit from Gjoa Haven.’
THE DOOMED FRANKLIN EXPEDITION
In command of the doomed was the 59-year-old Sir John Franklin (pictured) who sailed the Arctic three times before
The expedition, consisting of two ships led by British Royal Navy captain Sir John Franklin, aimed to find a sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
But the crew was condemned to an icy death after their two ships got jammed in thick sea ice in the Canadian Arctic in 1846.
The crew’s final message before they were wiped out – sent April 25, 1848 – indicated that the survivors were abandoning their ships.
They left the two vessels, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, north of King William Island and set out on a harsh journey south toward a mainland trading post.
Judging by the bodies found so far, none of the remaining crew made it even a fifth of the way to safety.
HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were sent out in the summer of 1845 to find the Northwest Passage but they took a crucial wrong turn and ended up stranded and surrounded by pack ice