Qalaherriaq information

Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua
Qalaherriaq
1855 drawing, based on a now-lost photograph
Born	c. 1834 Cape York, North Greenland
Died	(1856-06-14)June 14, 1856 St. John's, Newfoundland Colony
Signature

Qalaherriaq (Greenlandic pronunciation: [qɑlɑheʁːiɑq], c. 1834 – June 14, 1856), baptized as Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua, was an Inughuit hunter from Cape York, Greenland, recruited in 1850 as an interpreter by the crew of HMS Assistance during the search for Franklin's lost expedition. He produced maps of Northern Greenland for the expedition, and guided the ship to Wolstenholme Fjord to investigate rumors of a massacre of Franklin's crew, but only found the corpses of local Inughuit and crew from an unrelated British vessel. He was alleged to have produced an extremely accurate map of his homeland, but was almost certainly aided by the crew of the vessel. Although the Assistance initially planned to return him to his family after the expedition, poor sea conditions made landing at Cape York impossible, and he was taken to England and placed under the care of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Enrolled at St Augustine's College in Canterbury, Qalaherriaq studied English and Christianity for several years. He was appointed by the Bishop of Newfoundland Edward Feild to accompany him on religious missions to the Inuit of Labrador. He arrived at St. John's in October 1855, and began study at the Theological Institute. Plagued by illness since his time aboard the Assistance, he died at from complications of long-term tuberculosis in June 1856, shortly before he was scheduled to travel to Labrador. A posthumous biography, Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian, was written about Qalaherriaq. Inughuit oral histories, collected by Knud Rasmussen in the early 20th century, describe him as victim to a British abduction, and his family mourning him without learning of his fate.