Igloolik, Nunavut
Encyclopedia
Igloolik is an Inuit
hamlet, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut
, northern Canada
. Because it is on the small island
, one of Canada's national historic sites, of the same name
, in Foxe Basin
that is very close to the Melville Peninsula
(and to a lesser degree, Baffin Island
), it is often thought to be on the peninsula. The name "Igloolik" means "there is a house here" (from iglu meaning house or building, and referring to the sod houses - not snow igloo
s - that were originally in the area) in Inuktitut
and the residents are called Iglulingmiut (~miut - "people of"). The mayor of Igloolik is Lucassie Ivalu.
ans came when British Navy
ships HMS Fury
and HMS Hecla
, under the command of Captain William Edward Parry
, wintered in Igloolik in 1822.
The island was visited in 1867 and 1868 by the American explorer Charles Francis Hall
in his search for survivors of the lost Franklin Expedition
. In 1913, Alfred Tremblay, a French-Canadian prospector with Captain Joseph Bernier’s expedition to Pond Inlet
, extended his mineral exploration overland to Igloolik, and in 1921 a member of Knud Rasmussen's Fifth Thule
Expedition visited the island.
The first permanent presence by southerners in Igloolik came with the establishment of a Roman Catholic
Mission in the 1930s. By the end of the decade, the Hudson's Bay Company
had also set up a post on the island.
Non-indigenous establishments, such as RCMP
stations, day school
s, and clinic
s, were here before they came to be in surrounding communities. The Igloolik Research Centre focuses on documenting Inuit traditional knowledge and technology
, as well as climatology and seismic data research.
Anthropologically
, Iglulik Inuit are usually considered to be the Iglulingmiut, the Aivilingmiut
, and the Tununirmiut, those Inuit Inupiaq-speakers on northern Baffin Island
, on Southampton Island
, and in the Melville Peninsula
.
An ancient legend from the Igloolik area was adapted by Zacharias Kunuk
into the award-winning Canadian film Atanarjuat
in 2001. In 2004, Isuma
produced the film The Journals of Knud Rasmussen
which was released in September 2006 after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival
.
Igloolik is also the home-base of the only Inuit circus
, Artcirq. This collective is active in video-making, music production and live circus show performances. Early in 2008, when temperatures in Igloolik were at -50 C, eight members of Artcirq went to Essakane
north of Timbuktu
, Mali
, where temperatures were 40 °C (104 °F), to perform at the Festival au Désert. In February 2010, six members of Artcirq represented Nunavut in performances at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In late 2007, the Igloolik HTO (Hunter and Trappers Organization) banned all forms of tourism (sport hunting, filming, photography, watching) related to the northern Foxe Basin walrus
population for a period of two years. This ban was in response to an observed decrease in walrus. The Igloolik Inuit continue to harvest walrus while the tourism ban is in place.
, the population was 1,538, an increase of 19.6% from the 2001 census
.
The growth of the Iglulingmiut Population:
with 9 months averaging below zero degrees Celsius and extremely cold winters.
interviewed people from the region in April 2008, about their concerns over plans to ship iron ore from the nearby Steensby Inlet
on Baffin Island from the Baffinland Iron Mine
.
Jaypetee Palluq, an Igloolik resident who had been asked to serve on a Baffinland advisory committee, was concerned that the mine's operation would interfere with the traditional hunts for sea mammals, like
Walrus
.
He called on Baffinland to "find an alternate shipping route to the mine, regardless of the cost."
Paul Quassa, Mayor of Igloolik, also expressed concern, over the effect of freighters on the ice used by the Walrus. He said the region was known for its highly prized aged, fermented walrus meat, a valuable export from the region.
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
hamlet, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
, northern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Because it is on the small island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
, one of Canada's national historic sites, of the same name
Igloolik Island
Igloolik Island is a small island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the Foxe Basin, very close to the Melville Peninsula , and it is often thought to be a part of the peninsula...
, in Foxe Basin
Foxe Basin
Not to be confused with Fox Bay, Falkland IslandsFoxe Basin is a shallow oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, located between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula...
that is very close to the Melville Peninsula
Melville Peninsula
Melville Peninsula is a large peninsula in the Canadian Arctic. Since 1999, it has been part of Nunavut. Before that, it was part of the District of Franklin. It's separated from Southampton Island by Frozen Strait. The narrow isthmus connecting the peninsula to the mainland is styled the “Rae...
(and to a lesser degree, Baffin Island
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
), it is often thought to be on the peninsula. The name "Igloolik" means "there is a house here" (from iglu meaning house or building, and referring to the sod houses - not snow igloo
Igloo
An igloo or snowhouse is a type of shelter built of snow, originally built by the Inuit....
s - that were originally in the area) in Inuktitut
Inuktitut
Inuktitut or Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, Eastern Canadian Inuit language is the name of some of the Inuit languages spoken in Canada...
and the residents are called Iglulingmiut (~miut - "people of"). The mayor of Igloolik is Lucassie Ivalu.
History
Information about the area’s earliest inhabitants comes mainly from numerous archeological sites on the island; some dating back more than 4,000 years. First contact with EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans came when British Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
ships HMS Fury
HMS Fury (1814)
HMS Fury was a Hecla-class bomb vessel. Built in the 1810s, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816, captained by Constantine Richard Moorsom. The ship after it left his command was converted to an Arctic exploration ship.The Fury made two journeys to the...
and HMS Hecla
HMS Hecla (1815)
HMS Hecla was a Royal Navy Hecla-class bomb vessel of 372 tons. Launched on 15 July 1815, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816...
, under the command of Captain William Edward Parry
William Edward Parry
Sir William Edward Parry was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer, who in 1827 attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole...
, wintered in Igloolik in 1822.
The island was visited in 1867 and 1868 by the American explorer Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall was an American Arctic explorer. Little is known of Hall's early life. He was born in the state of Vermont, but while he was still a child his family moved to Rochester, New Hampshire, where, as a boy, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith. In the 1840s he married and drifted...
in his search for survivors of the lost Franklin Expedition
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
. In 1913, Alfred Tremblay, a French-Canadian prospector with Captain Joseph Bernier’s expedition to Pond Inlet
Pond Inlet, Nunavut
Pond Inlet is a small, predominantly Inuit community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada and is located at the top of Baffin Island. As of the 2006 census the population was 1,315, an increase of 7.8% from the 2001 census making it the largest of the four hamlets above the 72nd parallel...
, extended his mineral exploration overland to Igloolik, and in 1921 a member of Knud Rasmussen's Fifth Thule
Thule
Thule Greek: Θούλη, Thoulē), also spelled Thula, Thila, or Thyïlea, is, in classical European literature and maps, a region in the far north. Though often considered to be an island in antiquity, modern interpretations of what was meant by Thule often identify it as Norway. Other interpretations...
Expedition visited the island.
The first permanent presence by southerners in Igloolik came with the establishment of a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Mission in the 1930s. By the end of the decade, the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
had also set up a post on the island.
Non-indigenous establishments, such as RCMP
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
stations, day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
s, and clinic
Clinic
A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...
s, were here before they came to be in surrounding communities. The Igloolik Research Centre focuses on documenting Inuit traditional knowledge and technology
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is an Inuktitut phrase that is often translated as Inuit traditional knowledge, Inuit traditional institutions or even Inuit traditional technology...
, as well as climatology and seismic data research.
Culture
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, Iglulik Inuit are usually considered to be the Iglulingmiut, the Aivilingmiut
Aivilingmiut
The Aivilingmiut are an Inuit people who traditionally have resided north of Hudson Bay in Canada, near Naujaat , Chesterfield Inlet, Southampton Island, and Cape Fullerton. They are descendants of the Thule people and are considered a southern subgroup of the Iglulik Inuit...
, and the Tununirmiut, those Inuit Inupiaq-speakers on northern Baffin Island
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
, on Southampton Island
Southampton Island
Southampton Island is a large island at the entrance to Hudson Bay at Foxe Basin. One of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Southampton Island is part of the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut, Canada. The area of the island is stated as by Statistics Canada . It is the 34th largest...
, and in the Melville Peninsula
Melville Peninsula
Melville Peninsula is a large peninsula in the Canadian Arctic. Since 1999, it has been part of Nunavut. Before that, it was part of the District of Franklin. It's separated from Southampton Island by Frozen Strait. The narrow isthmus connecting the peninsula to the mainland is styled the “Rae...
.
An ancient legend from the Igloolik area was adapted by Zacharias Kunuk
Zacharias Kunuk
Zacharias Kunuk, is a Canadian Inuk producer and director most notable for his film Atanarjuat, the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced completely in Inuktitut...
into the award-winning Canadian film Atanarjuat
Atanarjuat
Atanarjuat is a 2001 Canadian film directed by Zacharias Kunuk. It was the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut...
in 2001. In 2004, Isuma
Isuma
Isuma is Canada's first Inuit production company co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn in Igloolik, Nunavut in 1990...
produced the film The Journals of Knud Rasmussen
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen is a 2006 Canadian-Danish film about the pressures on the traditional Inuit culture when explorer Knud Rasmussen introduces European cultural influences. Produced by Isuma, the film was directed by Zacharias Kunuk, who also directed the award-winning Inuit film...
which was released in September 2006 after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
.
Igloolik is also the home-base of the only Inuit circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
, Artcirq. This collective is active in video-making, music production and live circus show performances. Early in 2008, when temperatures in Igloolik were at -50 C, eight members of Artcirq went to Essakane
Essakane
Essakane is a rural commune and village of the Cercle of Goundam in the Tombouctou Region of Mali. The commune includes around 16 small settlements. The small village of Essakane is around 70 kilometers west of the town of Timbuktu...
north of Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, where temperatures were 40 °C (104 °F), to perform at the Festival au Désert. In February 2010, six members of Artcirq represented Nunavut in performances at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In late 2007, the Igloolik HTO (Hunter and Trappers Organization) banned all forms of tourism (sport hunting, filming, photography, watching) related to the northern Foxe Basin walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
population for a period of two years. This ban was in response to an observed decrease in walrus. The Igloolik Inuit continue to harvest walrus while the tourism ban is in place.
Demographics
As of the 2006 censusCanada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
, the population was 1,538, an increase of 19.6% from the 2001 census
Canada 2001 Census
The Canada 2001 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This was a 4% increase over 1996 Census of 28,846,761. In...
.
The growth of the Iglulingmiut Population:
- 146 (1822)
- 485 (1963)
- 680 (1967)
- 867 (1972)
- 1,174 (1996)
- 1,286 (2001)
- 1,538 (2006)
- 1,720 (2009) estimate based on 3.8% growth-rate statistic. Non-inuit population ~ 84
Climate
Igloolik has a polar climatePolar climate
Regions with a polar climate are characterized by a lack of warm summers . Regions with polar climate cover over 20% of the Earth. The sun shines 24 hours in the summer, and barely ever shines at all in the winter...
with 9 months averaging below zero degrees Celsius and extremely cold winters.
Environmental concerns
The Canadian Broadcasting CorporationCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
interviewed people from the region in April 2008, about their concerns over plans to ship iron ore from the nearby Steensby Inlet
Steensby Inlet
Steensby Inlet is a waterway in Nunavut's Qikiqtaaluk Region. It extends northerly from Foxe Basin into central Baffin Island. There are several un-named islands within the inlet, and Koch Island lies outside of it...
on Baffin Island from the Baffinland Iron Mine
Baffinland Iron Mine
The Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, is working to develop a large open pit iron mine in the Mary River area of Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.-The ore body:Iron ore was first found in the Mary River area in 1962....
.
Jaypetee Palluq, an Igloolik resident who had been asked to serve on a Baffinland advisory committee, was concerned that the mine's operation would interfere with the traditional hunts for sea mammals, like
Walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
.
He called on Baffinland to "find an alternate shipping route to the mine, regardless of the cost."
Paul Quassa, Mayor of Igloolik, also expressed concern, over the effect of freighters on the ice used by the Walrus. He said the region was known for its highly prized aged, fermented walrus meat, a valuable export from the region.
See also
- Levi BarnabasLevi BarnabasLevi Barnabas is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories in 1995 and served until Nunavut was created in 1999...
- Germaine ArnaktauyokGermaine ArnaktauyokGermaine Arnaktauyok is an Inuit artist from Igloolik.Her artistic output consists of lithographs, etchings, and serigraphs that illustrate Inuit myths and traditional ways of life...
- Annabella PiugattukAnnabella PiugattukAnnabella Piugattuk is a Canadian Inuit actress, notable for her role in The Snow Walker. Piugattuk was raised in Igloolik, a village with a population of 1,286 in the Nunavut territory of Canada...
- Igloolik AirportIgloolik AirportIgloolik Airport is located at Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada, and is operated by the government of Nunavut.-Airlines and destinations:-Accidents and incidents:...
- Therkel MathiassenTherkel MathiassenTherkel Mathiassen was an archaeologist, anthropologist, cartographer, and ethnographer notable for his scientific study of the Arctic....