The Arctic Voyages of Martin Frobisher: An Elizabethan Adventure

William A. Waiser is a professor of history at the University of
Saskatchewan. He is the author of Saskatchewan’s Playground: A History
of Prince Albert National Park and Park Prisoners: The Untold Story of
Western Canada’s National Parks, 1915–1946

The Arctic Voyages of Martin Frobisher has been produced in conjunction
with the “Inuit and Englishmen” exhibit at Ottawa’s Canadian
Museum of Civilization. Written by Robert McGhee, arguably Canada’s
foremost Arctic archeologist, the book provides an engaging introduction
to Frobisher, his times, his three voyages (1576–78), and their
legacy.

McGhee suggests that the significance of the Frobisher expeditions has
been downplayed or simply overlooked. The Elizabethan’s presence in
the eastern Arctic in the late 16th century represented a renewal of
Native–newcomer activity in the region that dated back to
Norse–Inuit contact half a millennium earlier; in fact, the
abandonment of five of Frobisher’s men during the first expedition was
part of Inuit oral tradition three centuries later. McGhee also argues
that the Frobisher voyages were the first step in securing the British
claim to the Arctic archipelago; in particular, the third and last
expedition was not only the largest ever Arctic expedition, but
represented England’s first attempt to establish a colony in the new
world.

Drawing largely on the available secondary literature, as well as the
work of the Meta Incognita project, McGhee tells the Frobisher story
with clarity and skill. He also includes a number of maps, period
sketches, and contemporary photographs that nicely complement the text.

The strength of the book, though, is its comprehensiveness. McGhee
recounts what became of Frobisher. He also describes the recent
archeological activity in the area and what has been learned in the
process. He even tackles the question of why Elizabethan assayers
mistakenly reported that the ore that had been mined near the entrance
of Frobisher Bay contained gold. His conclusion: it was a hoax
comparable to the recent Bre-X scandal.