Herschel Island - The Arctic's First Trial

The Arctic's First Trial

The first court case held in the Canadian Arctic took place at Pauline Cove in 1924 in a building known as the Bonehouse, which was built in the mid-1890s as a storehouse for baleen (whalebone). Court officials traveled from Edmonton for the trial of two Inuvialuit men charged with murder. Jury members were chosen in Fort McPherson, Arctic Red River (now Tsiigehtchic) and Herschel Island. The men were found guilty, and were hanged from a tie beam in the Bonehouse. The tie beam was removed by the RCMP when they left the island in 1963.

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