It is my great pleasure to announce that this year’s Margaret and James F. Pendergast Award will be presented to Louie Kamookak, from Gjoa Haven, King Wiliam Island, Nunavut. Louie unfortunately could not attend the CAA 2017 due to an illness, but he sent a reply that will be read by the CAA President shortly.

Louie has been “a hunter of the past” since he was a child, encouraged by his father. He has specifically been interested in collecting clues of what happened to the Franklin expedition. He recorded stories from Inuit elders that have been passed on for generations and explored the landscape looking for physical clues of the lost expedition. His efforts were extremely helpful to Parks Canada in their recent search for and discovery of the remains of the Franklin expedition. He has also gone to great lengths to pass on his knowledge and especially his enthusiasm to younger generations.

Louie has received numerous awards for his contribution to solving the mystery of the Franklin expedition. In fact, Louie is the only recipient of a CAA award who has actually appeared on the cover of Canadian Geographic magazine (Jan/Feb 2016). I should also point out that his nomination was originally suggested by the Pendergast family and was unanimously agreed upon by the CAA Pendergast Award committee.

Citation by William Ross (CAA Nominations Committee)