Stefánsson, Vilhjálmur National Historic Person
Arnes, Manitoba
Vilhjálmur Stefánsson
© Rudolph Martin Anderson / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / e002712839
Address :
Arnes, Manitoba
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1964-10-27
Life Date:
1879 to 1962
Other Name(s):
-
Stefánsson, Vilhjálmur
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
1964-031
Importance:
Arctic explorer, major expeditions in 1906-7, 1908-12, 1913-18
Plaque(s)
Approved Inscription: Vilhjálmur Stefánsson Memorial Park, Arnes, Manitoba
This world-renowned explorer, author, and lecturer of Icelandic descent was born at Arnes in 1879. He visited the Canadian Arctic on three expeditions between 1906 and 1918, and published many accounts of the land and the Indigenous Peoples of the region. Inuit support was integral to the success of these ventures. His Iñupiaq partner Panigavluk also served as informant, hunter, and seamstress, yet he abandoned his family following his travels. A controversial figure, Stefansson advocated that notions of a barren inhospitable region be replaced with that of a “friendly Arctic” destined to be a centre of world power and commerce.