The Prize of the Pole (2007) (review)

As most students of imperialism or exploration know, explorers often reach their goals through varying combinations of help and exploitation of native populations. This was no different in the case of Robert E. Peary, who is credited as being the first man to find the North Pole. In 1897, mid-way through his attempts to reach the pole, Peary brought home a crucial payload from the Inuit who were helping him in Greenland: a large meteorite, sacred to the Inuit, which was unloaded in New York City and netted Peary around $50,000. The explorer used these funds to secure his future expeditions. However, it was the second cargo brought home by Peary in 1897 – human cargo -- that is the subject of Staffan Julén’s documentary The Prize of the Pole. The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) contacted Peary in Greenland, and negotiated for him to bring home Eskimos for study. The film, highlighting the individual lives touched by that contract, follows one modern day Inuit’s pursuit of his long lost kin’s journey to America.

An illegitimate great-grandson of Peary, the Inuit hunter, Hivshu, is the focal character of the film. Hivshu grew up in Greenland with many stories of Peary and the Eskimos who left for America, the most famous being then-six-year-old Minik, who grew up among whites and later returned. Captivated by these stories, Hivshu changed his name to Robert E. Peary II, as a way to identify himself with his great-grandfather’s legacy. The film’s narrative traces this new expedition – of Hivshu-turned-Peary II – as he journeys to the United States to trace the steps of Minik, and learns of the costs and consequences of Peary’s glory.

Peary II begins his search at the AMNH, where the six Eskimos were housed upon their arrival to New York. Although his family stories were vague about the beginning of the Inuit’s lives in America, Peary II quickly comes to the realization that his kinsmen were the subjects of study for early anthropologists, many of whom, like Franz Boas, viewed the Eskimos as “living fossils” for study. At a time when scientists and anthropologists believed in racial hierarchy of intelligence, worth, and civilization, these six Inuit were a goldmine for the budding discipline at the AMNH. This is where a major theme of the documentary comes into play – the constant reminder of how science and anthropology treated ethnic differences only a hundred years ago, and the human costs that resulted. When Peary II arrives at the AMNH, the Eskimo display is being removed for its lack of political correctness, and Peary II laments this loss of history, both American and his own.

Of the six Inuit brought to New York, five became ill and all but Minik eventually perished before having a chance to return to Greenland. The first to die was Minik’s father, who the AMNH claimed to bury before Minik’s eyes. The film reveals, however, that the body was taken in secret, its flesh removed, and the skeleton displayed in the Museum – all under the direction of Minik’s new adopted father, William Wallace. The film explores many of the legends of Minik’s life, as Peary II tries to separate fact from fiction. Throughout this quest, director Julén seamlessly weaves the legends told by the elder Inuit descendents of Peary with the legends of Minik from the United States. The film never clearly picks a side of the story as fact, but portrays a powerful message about the dubious accuracy, yet vast importance, of oral history in our own society, as well as in that of the Inuit.

The production of the documentary is visually pleasing, with vast, sweeping landscapes of Greenland providing sharp contrasts to the carefully chosen urban landscapes of New York City. The historical portion of the documentary is covered fully in photographs, period newspapers, archival film footage, audio recordings, and illustrations – there are no dramatizations – which...