The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 30, July 29, 2007, Article 30

PROTEST AGAINST CANADIAN COIN INUIT IMAGE

The Globe and Mail and other Canadian newspapers are reporting
on a fuss over the image of a native Inuit on a new $20 coin.

"It was a dark moment in Canadian history: English explorer Martin
Frobisher lured an Inuit kayaker onto his ship during his 16th-century
Arctic expedition and abducted him for display back home in England,
where the unnamed man eventually died of disease.

"Today, a new Canadian silver coin that is an eerie reminder of
that infamous episode has raised eyebrows among the country's
Inuit population.

"The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami in Ottawa is asking that the Royal
Canadian Mint consult it about any future coins that depict
their people.

"'We do appreciate the fact that the Mint does depict Inuit in
coins,' spokesman Stephen Hendrie said in an interview yesterday.
'But we think the Mint should consult with ITK in the future
when it depicts Inuit.'

"On one side of the coin is a portrait of the Queen. The other side
features Frobisher, who in 1576 was the first to attempt to discover
the Northwest Passage, aboard the Gabriel. A ship appears on the
coin alongside a 16th-century compass and an Inuit paddling a kayak.

"A Mint spokesman said yesterday that the kayaker on the coin is
meant to recognize the Inuit people as the first explorers of the
North, and is in no way meant to represent the unnamed man
abducted by Frobisher.

"It's about polar exploration and nothing else," Alex Reeves said.
"It's not about Sir Martin Frobisher's first meeting with Inuit people."

To read the complete article, see:
Full Story

[John Regitko, Editor of the C.N.A. E-Bulletin of the Canadian
Numismatic Association discussed this item in the July 27 issue.
His comments are excerpted below.  -Editor]

John Regitko writes: "I personally cannot see any relationship
between any kidnapping and the design depicted on the coin, and
I find it quite attractive. I am sorry to hear about some Inuit's
reaction, but the Mint did consult various groups, including
archeologists and polar experts.

"I wonder how they would have felt if the Inuit and the kayak
were completely ignored and only Frobisher and his ship surrounded
by water and ice floes were shown?"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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