Minik Wallace | |
|---|---|
 Minik in New York shortly after his arrival, 1897. | |
| Born | c. 1890 Etah, Greenland, Thule area |
| Died | October 29, 1918 (aged 28) Pittsburg, New Hampshire, United States |
Minik Wallace (also called Minik or Mene) (c. 1890 – October 29, 1918) was an Inughuaq (Inuk) brought as a child in 1897 from Greenland to New York City with his father and others by the explorer Robert Peary. The six Inuit were studied by staff of the American Museum of Natural History, which had custody. The adults and one child died soon of tuberculosis (TB), and one young man was returned to Greenland. After deceiving Minik with a staged burial, the museum put the skeleton of his father on exhibit. Minik was adopted by William Wallace, the museum's building superintendent, and did not return to Greenland until after 1910. He returned to the United States a few years later, where he remained and worked until dying of influenza in the 1918 pandemic.