Editing Back River (Nunavut) (section)

==History==
The Back River is the historic homeland of the ''[[Haningayogmiut]]'' (or ''Hanningajurmiut'') [[Copper Inuit]], also referred to as the ''Ualininmiut'' by their [[Caribou Inuit]] northern neighbours, the ''Utkusiksalinmiut''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=story_line&lg=English&fl=0&ex=00000299&sl=6814&pos=1|archive-url=https://archive.today/20080306122008/http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=story_line&lg=English&fl=0&ex=00000299&sl=6814&pos=1|url-status = dead|archive-date=2008-03-06|title=Inuit Heritage Centre|publisher=virtualmuseum|access-date=2008-01-22}}</ref> The ''[[Kaernermiut]]'' (also ''Kainermiut'') and the southerly ''[[Ahiagmiut]]'' of the Copper Inuit also frequented this area. The Back River and [[Thelon River]] were also the northern and northeastern edges of the tribal territories of the enemy [[Yellowknives]] and [[Chipewyan]] to the south.

Its first exploration by Europeans was led by [[George Back]] in 1834,<ref name="EoC" /> as part of an expedition initially mounted to seek the 1829 expedition of [[John Ross (Royal Navy officer)|Captain John Ross]].<ref name="Back">{{cite book|last= Back |first= George |year= 1836 |title= Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition to the Mouth of The Great Fish River and Along the Shores of the Arctic Ocean, in the Years 1833, 1834, and 1835 |url= https://archive.org/details/gb_IjJCAAAAcAAJ |location= London |publisher= John Murray }}</ref> Back learned of the river from local guides, and throughout his memoir of the expedition he referred to the river as the "Thlew-ee-cho-dezeth", which he translated as "Great Fish River".<ref name="Back" /> Later 19th-century explorers habitually referred to the river as "Back's Great Fish River", but gradually this was shortened to "Back River" over time.<ref name="EotA">{{cite book |last= Tews |first= Jörg |editor-first= Mark |editor-last= Nuttall |title= Encyclopedia of the Arctic |url= https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaarct00nutt |url-access= limited |publisher= Routledge |location= New York |year= 2005 |page= [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaarct00nutt/page/n229 185] |chapter= Back River |isbn= 0-203-99785-9 }}</ref>

On abandoning their ships to the ice, the remaining members of [[Sir John Franklin]]'s 1845 expedition to map a [[Northwest Passage]] set out for the Back River but did not survive.<ref>Jonathan Dore, "Franklin Fever", ''Times Literary Supplement'', 23 September 2016, p. 23: reviewing Russell A Potter's ''Finding Franklin'' (McGill).</ref> In search of them, James Anderson and James Stewart of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] descended the river in 1855 to Chantrey Bay and [[Montreal Island (Nunavut)|Montreal Island]].

After a hiatus of slightly over 100 years, it was again descended in 1962 by two groups. A British group of four young men was led by Robert Cundy, who wrote a book about their descent called ''Beacon Six''. They started at Beechey Lake paddling three foldup [[kayak]]s, one of which was destroyed on the expedition. An American group of four led by Austin Hoyt started at the source of the river, Sussex Lake, with two cedar canvas [[canoe]]s. Both groups filmed their trips. The British film, ''Beacon Six'', was televised by the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]].

[[File:Back River Hayes River confluence.jpg|thumb|400px|The lighter-colored Hayes River flows from the northeast (top right) into the dark Back River. Note the two flows remain distinct for about 10 miles downstream (towards photo-top). From [[NASA Earth Observatory]] ]]
Over the course of 17 months in 1963–1965, anthropologist [[Jean Briggs]] did field research with the Utkusiksalinmiut [[Inuit]] living at the opening of Back River and [[Chantrey Inlet]], resulting in her work ''Never in Anger'', as well as helping to compile an [[Utkuhiksalik]] dictionary.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Never in Anger|last=Briggs|first=Jean|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1970}}</ref><ref name=cbc>{{cite news|first=Lisa|last=Gushue|title=Eminent anthropologist Jean Briggs, Inuit language expert, dead at 87 |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/anthropologist-jean-briggs-dead-at-87-1.3700470 |work=[[CBC News]] |date=2016-07-29 |access-date=2016-08-21}}</ref>