In 1983, the National Museum of Man Mercury Series published the Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper No.119. The volume titled “Patterns of Activity-Induced Pathology in a Canadian Inuit Population” was an updated version of Charles F. Merbs’ 1969 doctoral dissertation. The seminal work focused on the vanished Inuit of Southampton Island, the Sadlermiut. The wealth of information that it contains and the unique way of interpretating the data has made Merb’s contribution one of the most cited in the Mercury series. To this day, this volume is still a foundational document for researchers who study the bioarchaeology of the Inuit. Is it the mystery of the Sadlermiut people, the descriptive style of writing, or the innovation of reconstructing behaviour from skeletal remains that has fueled its endurance? We shall see.