KUUJJUAQ, QUE. -- Bob May was one of the last Hudson's Bay apprentices. At 17 and is considered a hero among many Inuit elders in the Quebec Arctic. He became a legend in Arctic Canada, dedicating his life to the wilderness and Inuit culture. Known for his survival skills and generosity, he integrated with the Inuit, learned their traditions, and supported communities during crises. May discovered Helen Falls on the George River and founded the camp that is now Helen Falls Lodge. He became an outfitter and was widely recognized for his contribution to tourism in northern Quebec. Visitors to Kuujjuaq, Que., formerly known as Fort Chimo, often stopped by hoping to hear adventures or view the huge trophy caribou antlers hanging on his walls. He was hospitable, but would remain first and foremost modest. For a man who once saved a community from starvation, he shared his good deeds and generosity only in the intimacy of his diaries - and sparse details, even then The son of a park ranger, he was born in Manitoba's Riding Mountain National Park. At 17, he joined the Hudson's Bay Co. He found himself on a ship bound for the company's mostly northerly outpost: Arctic Bay on northern Baffin Island. The HBC post contained the only permanent buildings in the community, as the Inuit lived a traditional hunting life in tents and igloos. Despite his age and being the only Qallunaq (white man) in the region, he accepted the responsibilities of trader, teacher, doctor and nurse. He adapted to Inuit life, becoming fluent in Inuktitut and developing the skills necessary for Arctic survival and success. He hunted, trapped, handled dog teams, learned igloo building and, above all, embraced Inuit values and traditions. He became so skilled and dependable that the company once lent him out as a guide and interpreter for a McGill University research party. In early winter, 1939, he and three Inuit hunters nearly perished when their small schooner was battered and tossed for 12 hours in a violent storm about 30 kilometres off the east coast of Hudson Bay. They lashed themselves to the deck and prayed the engine would continue running."The small engine room was constantly awash, and the bilge pump barely big enough to pump out the seawater that was constantly breaking across the deck," he said. "At one moment the craft was half submerged, but a moment later it was at the crest of wave where the wind would catch her and tilt us on a precarious angle.” Almost miraculously, they saw the snow-covered cliffs of an island not 50 metres away, and were able to steer the ship to an anchorage on the lee side.