Minik Wallace - Minik's Father

Minik's Father

The adult Inuit soon contracted tuberculosis (TB), a widespread infectious disease in those years, which also occurred among indigenous peoples. Three adults and one child died. (Another young adult, the sixth member of the group, survived and was returned to Greenland.) One of the first to die was Minik's father, and the boy suffered. William Wallace, chief curator and superintendent of buildings, adopted the boy and cared for him. Minik pleaded for a proper burial for his father, with the traditional rites which only he as an Inuit could give. The curatorial staff wanted to preserve Qisuk's body for study, research that would be impossible if his remains were buried. They staged a fake burial for Minik's benefit: filling a coffin with stones for weight, and placing a stuffed "body" covered with a cloth on top. They performed the burial by lantern light, with Minik attending.

The staff sent Qisuk's body to Wallace's estate, which had a workshop for processing the skeletons of specimens. Qisuk's remains were de-fleshed, and the skeleton was mounted on an armature and returned to the museum for display. Wallace did not tell Minik about this nor of his own part in it. But, about 1906, New York papers published a story that stated Qisuk's skeleton was displayed in the museum. Minik learned through classmates' comments as the story circulated.

Wallace supported Minik in requesting that Qisuk's remains be returned to the son for traditional burial. The museum director, Hermon Carey Bumpus, evaded their requests, as well as other questions about the Inuit exhibits. Bumpus refused to admit the museum had Qisuk's skeleton. In the past, he had accused Wallace of financial irregularities and impropriety, and the curator resigned in 1901. Wallace continued to ask the museum for aid in financially supporting Minik, which Bumpus refused. The director tried to avoid investigation of the Inuit case. Minik was never able to reclaim his father's bones.