The Crocker Land Expedition Collection consists of over 200 artifact and hundreds of photos collected between 1913 and 1917 by an Arctic exploration team led by ethnologist Donald B. MacMillan. The photographs highlight the inuit, landscapes, and wildlife while the ethnographic or cultural artifacts include hunting and whaling tools, clothing, and sled equipment. The scientific team brought together macMillan; geologist, botanist and ornithologist W. Elmer Ekblaw of the University of Illinois; engineer, physcist, and Navy Ensign Fitzhugh Green; zoologist Maurice C. Tanquary of the University of Illinois; and surgeon Harrison J. Hunt.
MacMillan had previously accompanied Admiral Robert Peary's 1906 exploration team. At that time, Peary saw from a long distance the shores of what he called Crocker Land. MacMillan sought to confirm the existence of Crocker Land, then explore and map out the land as leader of his own 1913 team. Additionally, the team was to acclomplish the task of researching "geology, geography, glaciology, meterology, terrestrial, magnetism, electrical phenomena, seismology, zoology (both vertabrate and invertabrate), botany, oceanography, ethnology, and archaeology". While the 1913 expedition confirmed that Crocker Land must have been a mirage and did not exist, the team did return with artifacts and photographys documenting the indigenous peoples and natural habitat of Etah, Greenland; and Ellsmere Island, Canada.
These materials were divided in 1918 among the three major supporters of the expedition: the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the American Geographical Society, and the University of Illinois' Museum of Natural History. Additionally, Macmillan's journals and some Crocker Land Expedition artifacts and held by Bowdoin College, his alma mater. Cultural artifacts from the University of Illinois" Museum of Natural History were later transferred to the Spurlock Museum.
Inuit Pouch
Greenland, North America
Leather pouch with a flap closure and orange-dyed side and bottom panels
1998.19.2104
Woman's Pants
Greenland, North America
Sealskin pants with decorative panels and red sealskin borders
1998.19.2751
Inuit Fish Carving Bait
Etah, Greenland
Small carved ivory fish with incised features
1998.19.0227
Un-la, Model Sled
Etah, Greenland
Small-scale sled replica with wooden frame and sealskin blanket and cotton pillows
1998.19.2777
Mini Harpoon and Buoys
Point Barrow, Alaska
Miniature wooden harpoon with ivory tip. Metal nails in buoys and in center of harpoon
1998.19.0279