The tragic story of this famous meteorite

Summary

这段视频脚本讲述了一个关于欺骗、野心和文化冲突的故事。故事的核心是一块巨大的铁陨石，它在大约1万年前坠落在格陵兰岛西北部，并被当地的因纽特人用来制作工具和武器。1897年，美国探险家罗伯特·皮里为了名声和财富，将这块陨石运到纽约卖给了美国自然历史博物馆。同时，他还带走了六名因纽特人，承诺一年后送他们回家。然而，这些因纽特人在美国遭受了疾病和死亡，他们的故事揭示了殖民主义和科学探索背后的伦理问题。直到1993年，这些因纽特人的遗体才被归还给他们的家园。

Takeaways

• 🌌 位于纽约美国自然历史博物馆内的巨型铁陨石，约在1万年前作为太空碎片撞击地球，在格陵兰岛西北部坠落。
• 🛠️ 几个世纪以来，这块铁陨石被当地的因纽特人（Inughuit）用来制作金属尖的工具和武器。
• 🇺🇸 1897年，一位寻求名利的美国探险家将这块巨型铁陨石运至纽约，卖给了博物馆。
• 📜 除了铁陨石，1897年的船上还带来了六名因纽特人，他们被告知一年内可以返回北极的家园。
• 🏥 这些因纽特人到达纽约后，由于缺乏对美国疾病的免疫力，很快就生病住院了。
• 😔 其中一名因纽特人Qisuk去世后，他的儿子Minik被告知其父亲被埋葬了，但实际上Qisuk的遗体被博物馆用于科学研究。
• 📰 Minik在纽约长大后，发现了关于他父亲遗体真相，并开始通过报纸公开要求博物馆归还其父亲的遗骸。
• 🚢 1909年，Minik最终得以返回格陵兰，但在回到美国后不久就去世了。
• 📖 1986年，作者Kenn Harper发表了关于Minik的深入研究著作《Give Me My Father's Body》，呼吁博物馆归还因纽特人的遗体。
• 🔄 1993年，在持续的压力下，博物馆最终将Qisuk、Nuktaq、Atangana和Aviaq的遗体归还给格陵兰。
• 🏛️ 2023年10月，博物馆开始审视自19世纪以来收藏的超过12,000具人类遗骸，并承诺将所有人类遗骸从展示柜中移除。

Q & A

这块巨大的铁陨石是在哪个博物馆展出的？

这块巨大的铁陨石在美国纽约的美国自然历史博物馆展出。

这块铁陨石坠落地球的时间是多久以前？

这块铁陨石大约在1万年前坠落到地球上。

因纽特人使用这块铁陨石做什么？

因纽特人使用这块铁陨石制作了金属尖的工具和武器。

哪位美国探险家将这块铁陨石运到纽约？

美国探险家罗伯特·皮里将这块铁陨石运到纽约。

皮里是如何说服因纽特人跟他一起去纽约的？

皮里向因纽特人承诺，他们会在纽约得到妥善照顾，并且如果他们同意被博物馆研究，他们将会得到丰富的武器和工具。

皮里从因纽特人那里带走了什么？

皮里从因纽特人那里带走了一块巨大的铁陨石和六名因纽特人。

因纽特人在纽约的生活状况如何？

因纽特人在纽约的生活状况很糟糕，他们被迫生活在博物馆潮湿炎热的地下室里，并且很快就因为接触到美国疾病而生病住院。

因纽特人中有多少人在纽约去世？

四名因纽特人在纽约去世，包括Minik的父亲Qisuk。

Minik是如何发现他父亲的真实情况的？

Minik在成长为青少年后开始询问关于他父亲的问题，并最终发现了博物馆官员对他撒谎的事实，即他父亲的遗体被博物馆解剖并保存用于研究。

博物馆最终是如何处理这些因纽特人的遗体的？

直到1993年，在作者Kenn Harper的书籍《Give Me My Father's Body》出版和公众压力下，博物馆才将Qisuk、Nuktaq、Atangana和Aviaq的遗体归还给格陵兰。

美国自然历史博物馆对这段历史有何回应？

美国自然历史博物馆承认在皮里将Minik和其他五名因纽特人带到纽约的过程中，他们的行为包含了一系列不道德和不可辩解的行为，特别是对Minik误导和拒绝归还他父亲遗体的行为是道德上令人憎恶的。

这块铁陨石在博物馆的展示中有何特别之处？

这块铁陨石是博物馆中的一项标志性展品，被称为'被俘获的最大陨石'。然而，展示中并没有提及Minik或其他因纽特人的故事。

Outlines

00:00

🌌 陨石与因纽特人的故事

本段落讲述了位于纽约美国自然历史博物馆的一块巨大铁陨石的来历。这块陨石约在1万年前坠落于格陵兰岛西北部，并被当地的因纽特人（Inughuit）用来制作金属工具和武器。1897年，一位寻求名声和财富的美国探险家将这块陨石运至纽约并卖给了博物馆。然而，这并非该船唯一的载物，六位因纽特人也被带到了纽约。他们被告知一年内可以返回北极的家园，并同意在博物馆中接受研究。这段历史充满了虚假的承诺、宏大的野心，以及一个小男孩的成长故事，他长大后将挑战这个从他身上夺走一切的博物馆。

05:01

🚢 陨石的运输与因纽特人的悲剧

这一段描述了美国探险家如何多次尝试并最终成功地将这块巨大的陨石运回纽约。他使用了专业的设备和更大的船只，以及定制的铁路系统来完成这项艰巨的任务。同时，为了展示他对因纽特人的善意，他策划了一些照片，试图掩饰他对部落铁源的掠夺。此外，他还应美国博物馆的要求带回了六位因纽特人。然而，到达纽约后，他们并未得到承诺的照顾，而是被迫生活在博物馆的潮湿地下室中，很快就因为不适应气候和疾病而住院。其中一位名叫Qisuk的人去世后，他的儿子Minik发现博物馆对他的父亲的身体进行了解剖研究，这让他感到震惊和背叛。

10:02

📰 媒体揭露与追求正义

在这段中，我们看到了Minik如何通过媒体公开他的故事，以及他如何努力争取让他父亲的遗体得到适当的安葬。尽管他多次向博物馆请求，但一直被忽视。直到1909年，他才得以返回格陵兰。回到格陵兰后，他不得不重新学习他的母语和传统习俗。1916年，他返回美国，在新罕布什尔州担任伐木工人，但两年后死于1918年的流感大流行。直到1986年，作者Kenn Harper发表了关于Minik的深入研究书籍《Give Me My Father's Body》，并在1993年成功促使博物馆将四位因纽特人的遗体归还给格陵兰。直到2023年10月，博物馆才开始认真处理其自19世纪以来保存的超过12000具人类遗骸，并承诺将所有人类遗骸从展示柜中移除。然而，Peary带走的陨石仍然在博物馆展出，成为了博物馆的标志性展品之一。

Keywords

💡美国自然历史博物馆

美国自然历史博物馆是位于纽约的一座著名博物馆，以其丰富的自然历史藏品和展览而闻名。在视频中，博物馆是铁陨石最终的归宿，成为了博物馆的标志性展品之一。此外，博物馆还涉及了一段不光彩的历史，包括将因纽特人带到纽约并进行研究的事件。

💡铁陨石

铁陨石是指从太空坠落到地球上的含有铁的陨石，是人类早期获取铁的主要来源之一。在视频中，铁陨石不仅是自然历史博物馆的展品，也是格陵兰因纽特人制作工具和武器的重要材料。

💡因纽特人

因纽特人是指居住在北极地区的土著民族，包括格陵兰的因纽特人，也就是视频提到的因纽特部落。他们有着独特的文化和生存方式，历史上依赖自然资源生活，如使用铁陨石制作工具。

💡罗伯特·皮里

罗伯特·皮里是一位美国探险家，以探索北极地区和尝试到达北极点而知名。在视频中，皮里因将铁陨石和因纽特人带到美国自然历史博物馆而成为关键人物，但他的行为也引发了伦理和道德上的争议。

💡北极

北极是指地球最北端的地区，包括北极点和周围的北极圈以内的区域。在视频中，北极是皮里探险的目标，也是因纽特人生活的环境，这里的恶劣气候和与世隔绝的状态对因纽特人的生活方式产生了重要影响。

💡小冰河期

小冰河期是指发生在15世纪至19世纪初的一个地球气候相对寒冷的时期，这一时期的气候变化对高纬度地区，尤其是北极地区的生态环境和人类活动产生了显著影响。

💡贸易

贸易是指不同群体或国家之间进行的商品或服务的交换活动。在视频中，贸易是19世纪欧洲探险家与因纽特人之间互动的重要方式，探险家们通过贸易获取铁陨石和其他资源，而因纽特人则获得了制造商品和金属工具。

💡疾病

疾病是指影响人类或其他生物体正常功能的各种病症。在视频中，疾病是导致被带到纽约的因纽特人中多人去世的主要原因，由于他们对美国疾病缺乏免疫力，加之生活在不适宜的环境中，导致了健康状况的恶化。

💡科学

科学是一种系统化的知识体系，通过观察、实验和推理来理解自然界和社会现象。在视频中，科学被用作解释和合理化博物馆对因纽特人进行研究的理由，但同时也揭示了科学实践中可能存在的伦理问题。

💡伦理

伦理是指关于行为对错的道德准则和社会规范。在视频中，伦理问题主要体现在博物馆对待因纽特人的行为上，包括欺骗、利用和对他们的文化和个人权利的不尊重。

💡归还遗骸

归还遗骸是指将已故人士的遗体或遗骸返回给其家属或族群，以供适当的葬礼和纪念。在视频中，归还遗骸是Minik争取的一项权利，也是博物馆最终在社会压力下采取的行动。

Highlights

纽约美国自然历史博物馆内藏有一块巨大的铁陨石。

这块陨石大约在1万年前作为太空碎片撞击到地球，在格陵兰岛西北部。

几个世纪以来，因纽特人（Inughuit）使用这块陨石制作金属尖的工具和武器。

一位寻求名利的美国探险家将这块陨石运到纽约博物馆出售。

1897年，除了这块巨大的铁块，还有六名因纽特人被带到了纽约。

这些因纽特人被告知一年内将返回北极的家园，并在博物馆里接受研究。

大多数因纽特人最终没有回到他们的家园。

历史上获取铁的唯一途径是陨石从太空坠落到地球。

在图坦卡蒙的墓中发现了19件铁制品，包括这把匕首，这是在埃及发展冶炼技术的几个世纪前。

北极圈以北的地区一直环境恶劣且极其偏远。

19世纪末，因纽特人已经习惯了与外国船只交易，换取制成品、金属工具和武器。

罗伯特·皮里（Robert Peary）是一位渴望名利的美国探险家，他带着到达北极的目标来到格陵兰岛西北部。

皮里通过与因纽特人的交流学习了如何在北极条件下生存，并使用雪橇犬在冰面上旅行。

皮里在1894年的北极探险失败后，为了保持赞助者的兴趣，他决定带回一些珍贵的东西。

皮里通过交换一把枪给一个知道“铁山”位置的因纽特人，找到了这块陨石。

皮里没有征得同意就将两块陨石碎片运回了他的船上。

皮里通过多次尝试和专门的设备，最终将最大的陨石运到了纽约。

皮里将六名因纽特人带到纽约，但他们在纽约的生活条件并不如他所承诺的那样。

因纽特人在纽约遭受了疾病的侵袭，其中四人不幸去世。

皮里将因纽特人的铁陨石卖给了博物馆，获得了巨额财富。

博物馆直到1993年才将去世的因纽特人的遗体归还给格陵兰。

博物馆在2023年10月开始审视其自19世纪以来收藏的超过12000具人类遗骸，并承诺将所有人类遗骸从展示柜中移除。

Transcripts

Inside the American Museum of Natural History in New York

is this enormous iron meteorite.

It crashed into Earth here in northwest Greenland

around 10,000 years ago as a piece of space debris.

And for centuries was used to make metal-tipped

tools and weapons by a small tribe of indigenous Greenlanders, the Inughuit.

Until an American explorer

seeking fame and fortune dragged it across the Arctic

and sailed it to New York to sell to the museum.

But this giant piece of iron isn't

the only thing brought here on that ship in 1897.

Six Inughuit came, too.

After being told

they'd return home to the Arctic within the year.

Rich with weapons and tools

if they agreed to be studied by the museum.

Most of them wouldn't make it back.

It's a story of false promises,

big ambitions, and one small boy.

Who would grow up to challenge the museum

that took everything from him.

For centuries of human history,

pretty much the only way to get iron

was if it crashed into Earth from space –

in the form of meteorites.

Like here, where 19 iron pieces,

including this dagger, were found in Tutankhamun's tomb.

Which was sealed

centuries before smelting technology developed in Egypt.

Ancient Egyptians even had a hieroglyphic

symbol for meteoric iron,

which translates literally to “metal of the sky.”

Indigenous groups in this part of the world

were using meteoric iron to like the Inughuit –

sometimes called “Polar Inuit” –

who make up the northernmost band of Inuit.

The ancestors of the Inuit

first came to this part of Greenland around 1000 A.D.

And the chance existence of meteoric iron here

was a crucial part

of making this region inhabitable for humans at all.

This area, north of the Arctic Circle,

has always been harsh and extremely remote.

But the “Little Ice Age,” which spanned from the 15th

through early 19th century, froze ocean access to this region,

making it even harder to reach.

The Inuguit lived in virtual isolation for centuries.

Until an expedition led by British explorer John Ross

arrived in 1818 and came ashore.

When he saw the iron-tipped knives, spears and harpoons.

Ross assumed at first

that the metal must have washed up from a shipwreck.

Until the Inughuit told him it came from a nearby “mountain.”

Ross guessed that this “iron mountain”

must be a crashed iron meteorite.

Bad weather prevented the expedition

from finding the “iron mountain,” which Ross later described

as the “most important mineral production of this country.”

This was the beginning of an increase in trade

with European explorers

as northern expeditions continued here throughout the 1800s.

Several of which tried to find the meteorite but never could.

By the 1890s, the Inughuit had become accustomed

to trading with foreign ships for manufactured goods,

metal tools, and weapon. And relied less

on the meteorite as their sole source of iron.

Which is how an American explorer, hungry

for fame and fortune, justified his decision to take it.

At this time, the foreigner the Inughuit

interacted with the most was this man, Robert Peary.

He had come to this remote part

of northwest Greenland with one goal in mind –

reaching the North Pole.

Peary was part of an era of European

and American exploration in the late 19th century

obsessed with the parts of the map

not yet reached by white people.

And in the case of the North and South Pole,

not known to have been reached by humans at all.

He's considered to be the first non-Inuit to study

Greenlandic Inuit culture and survival methods.

And throughout his years

of exploring the Arctic – funded by his wealthy family

and by groups like the National Geographic Society and Brooklyn

Institute of Arts and Sciences,

now known as the Brooklyn Museum –

the Inuit taught Peary how to survive Arctic conditions

and how to travel over the ice using sled dogs.

They also worked as expert guides, hunters, dog

handlers and laborers during his Arctic expeditions.

From a trade perspective,

the relationship was beneficial to the Inuit.

But it was much more enriching for Peary.

While the Inuit got resources like guns,

household items and metal tools from Peary,

Peary got furs and ivory from the Inuit.

Which, along with other cultural artifacts,

he would bring back to New York and sell

to support his efforts to reach the North Pole.

When Peary's 1894 Arctic expedition failed,

he knew he had to come home with something

to keep his backers interested.

And he knew from stories going back to John Ross in 1818

that the Inughuit had access to a rare iron meteorite –

maybe a big one.

So, in exchange for a gun to an Inuk man

who said he knew the location of the “iron mountain,”

Peary was led right to it.

A lot of this history has been lost to time.

But what historians do know

is that Peary didn't ask permission

for what he did next.

After a mostly Inughuit crew

excavated two fragments of the meteorite found here

and dragged them to Peary's ship using rope and wood rollers,

Peary learned of a third, much larger

fragment on this nearby island – too heavy to take on his ship.

It would take multiple attempts over the next couple of years.

Returning to Greenland with a much bigger ship

and specialized equipment, including heavy duty

jacks and even a custom built railway, to excavate

and then drag this largest meteorite

across the Arctic landscape to the edge of the island

and finally load the most expensive resource

Peary ever extracted from the Arctic onto his ship

bound for New York.

Careful to frame his interactions with the Inuit as nothing

but good-hearted and without coercion or exploitation,

Peary orchestrated a few images

about his removal of the tribe's local source of iron.

By staging this scene, recreating the, as he put it,

“ancient” practice of mining the meteorite for metal.

And captioning this photo of the Inughuit who moved it for him

as a “farewell to the saviksoah” –

the meteorite.

Who Peary later wrote “happily did all they could

to put into my possession

the Iron Mountain of their forefathers.”

But the meteorite wasn't all Peary

took from the tribe to impress his backers in New York.

Because an assistant curator for the American Museum

of Natural History had asked a special request of Peary.

That he bring back in Inuk to be studied at the museum.

Peary convinced six Inughuit to come with him.

A respected hunter and key provider in the tribe named Nuktaq,

who brought his wife Atangana

and their 12 year old daughter, Aviaq.

A young man named Uisaakasak, and Qisuk.

Another skilled hunter who lost his wife to an epidemic

brought on by one of Peary's earlier expeditions.

Who brought with him his seven year old son, Minik.

Peary didn't just promise to compensate the group

handsomely for their journey.

He also assured them

they'd be taken care of by the museum

for their entire stay in New York.

But that's not what happened.

When Peary’s ship, with the giant meteorite and six

Inughuit on board arrived in the Brooklyn Navy Yard

in October 1897,

it stirred up a lot of excitement.

20,000 people paid to board the ship

and see the people and meteorite Peary brought back,

which he pocketed to fund his further expeditions.

And then left – on a lecture tour promoting

his latest “thrilling adventures in Greenland.”

Leaving the Inughuit in New York to be studied

at the American Museum of Natural History,

where they were initially forced

to live in a damp, hot basement inside the museum.

Within days of exposure to the warmer climate,

and with no immunity from American diseases,

they were all hospitalized with respiratory infections.

Minik’s father, Qisuk, was the first to die.

The museum told Minik

they buried Qisuk, but that wasn't true.

Qisuk’s body was dissected, and his remains were stored

inside the museum for further study.

Photos of his brain appeared in this 1901 scientific report.

Soon after Qisuk’s death, Atangana, Nuktaq

and their daughter Aviaq died of disease, too.

And Uisaakasak asked to be sent back to Greenland.

Which left only Minik, alone.

And the only Inuit in all of New York City

By 1899, just nine years old.

Minik had lost all contact with Peary at this point.

The explorer never came back for

the people he convinced to come to New York.

And sold their meteorites to the museum for $40,000,

an equivalent of more than $1,000,000 today.

It took a few years for the museum to find a way

to remove the meteorite from the Brooklyn Navy Yard,

which they finally did in 1904.

And, just like in the Arctic, carefully dragged it

through the streets of New York on wood rollers.

And then a giant truck pulled by a team of horses

all the way to the American Museum of Natural History,

where it became a prestige item

and major attraction for the museum.

There's no record that Peary ever shared

the fortune he got from the meteorite with Minik –

the boy he brought to the museum and then abandoned.

After his father died, Minik was taken in

by a museum official named William Wallace

and grew up in New York City under Wallace's care.

He forgot his native language, Inuktun,

and started going by the name Mene Wallace.

Eventually, his foster family fell on hard times.

And, now impoverished,

a teenaged Minik started asking questions about his father, Qisuk.

And though it's somewhat unclear

how, discovered the truth –

that the officials from the museum had lied to him.

And his father's body had been desecrated,

without Minik’s knowledge, and was inside the museum.

Supposedly in the name of science.

Starting in 1907, Minik took to newspapers to tell his story

and publicly pleaded that

the museum return his father's remains

so he could give them a proper burial.

They ignored him.

The following year,

he called on Peary to help him leave New York

and send him to his home in Greenland.

Peary said there was no room on his ship.

At least, not until 1909,

when there was suddenly a spot

for Minik on one of Peary's ships bound for Greenland.

It was right around the time Peary claimed that his recent

Arctic expedition was the first to reach the North Pole.

And Minik was writing in American newspapers

about how Peary treated his people when he was a boy,

including taking the meteorite.

Which Peary “put aboard his steamer

and took for my poor people.”

“I can never forgive Peary,

and I hope to see him to show him the wreck he has caused.”

A few months before Peary returned to the U.S.

from his final Arctic expedition,

Minik was on a ship back to Greenland.

Before Minik left, he wrote the biggest regret

he had about leaving America.

“That I must return home alone, leaving the body of my father,

who was taken from me

a martyr to the cold blooded scientific study of your people.”

When Minik

got home to Greenland, he needed to relearn his native language

and Inughuit customs, like hunting, kayaking and dog handling.

He'd only been around seven years old

when Peary took him to the U.S. after all.

He eventually returned to the U.S.

in 1916, working as a lumberjack in New Hampshire.

He died there two years later.

One of the millions of victims of the 1918 pandemic.

The museum never answered his repeated calls

to return his father's remains.

They kept the bodies of all four of the Inughuit

who died in their care for almost a century.

Until new appeals were made by author Kenn Harper,

who had published “Give Me My Father's Body,”

a deeply researched book about Minik, in 1986.

The museum finally gave in to mounting pressure

and returned the remains of Qisuk, Nuktaq,

Atangana and Aviaq back to Greenland in 1993.

When we reached out to the American Museum

of Natural History for comment,

they acknowledged that their role in Peary bringing Minik

and the five other Inughuit to New York in 1897

“included a series of unethical and unjustifiable actions,”

especially the “morally abhorrent” act of “misleading

Minik and refusing to return his father's remains.”

Only in October 2023

did the museum finally begin

to reckon with the more than 12,000 human remains

it's kept going back to the 1800s.

And committed to removing

all human remains from its display cases.

But the meteorite Peary took is still there.

It remains a signature exhibit

of the American Museum of Natural History,

which the museum has described as “the largest

meteorite in captivity.”

A plaque

displayed in front of the meteorite includes a passing mention

that it was “brought to the museum by American explorer

Robert Peary.”

But nowhere in this room where you find a mention

or a photo of Minik.

Or Qisuk.

Or any of the six people that Peary left at the museum.