The piece offered a brief summary of early Canadian mapping. And while renowned explorers such as Martin Frobisher, Samuel de Champlain, James Cook and Alexander Mackenzie get the bulk of the credit, the story also includes mention of the important cartographic contributions made by Canada’s aboriginal peoples. “Their knowledge was often incorporated into maps of early European explorers,” notes the piece, which is accompanied by a map drawn in 1822 at Winter Island by the Inuk Iliguik. Interestingly, Canada’s First Peoples seem to be gaining increasing recognition for their important role in mapping the nation. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than with the discovery of Sir John Franklin’s ship Erebus last summer, where traditional Inuit knowledge of the local geography was critical to the find. Indeed, though the location isn’t marked, there’s a map of King William Island and the surrounding area drawn by an Inuk named In-nook-poo-zhee-jook in 1869 that almost assuredly includes the spot where Erebus was found. Where might modern-day searchers have been without it?