e do not know the names of
the three Inuit hostages that Frobisher brought to England in 1577.
The man's name is usually recorded in English as "Calichough."
The woman's name ("Ignorth") and that of the infant
("Nutiok") are simply versions of the Inuit words for
"woman" and "child."
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The three captives were a great attraction when they landed at
Bristol in the autumn of 1577. Their portraits were painted several
times but only one set of paintings has survived. These watercolour
portraits were painted by the noted artist
John White who would later
be governor of the Virginia Colony.
Reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum
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At a reception held by the Mayor of Bristol, the Inuit man
demonstrated the use of his
kayak and bird-spear
to hunt ducks on the Avon River. The occasion was recorded by an artist,
and versions of the resulting engraving were published in many European
countries.
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This imaginative engraving of Inuit life was used to illustrate
an account of Frobisher's 1577 voyage. The original drawing may
have been based on the Inuit hostages in Bristol.
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"1577. Captaine Frobisher in a ship of our queenes of the burden
of 200 tonnes came into Kingrode from Cattai, who brought certaine oare
from thence, which was esteemed to be very ritch and full of
gowld....They brought likewise a man called Callicho and a woman named
Ignorth. They were sauage people and fed only uppon raw flesh. The 9th.
of October he rode in a little bote made of skinne in the water at the
backe, where he killed 2 duckes with a dart, and when he had done
carried his bote through the marsh upon his back. The like he did at
the weare and other places, where many beheld him. He would hit a ducke
a good distance of and not misse. They died here within a
month."
(Seyer's Annals of Bristol)
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