Nunavut
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Nunavut is a territory in northern Canada which contains Canada's northernmost lands. With only 37,000 inhabitants, Nunavut covers a land area larger than Mexico, divided between mainland North America and an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.
Most of the people there are part of an indigenous group called the Inuit. They used to be called Eskimos, but this word is no longer used in Canada, and may be considered offensive by some. The singular form of "Inuit" is "Inuk" ("he is Inuk" vs "they are Inuit").
Communities
Nunavut doesn't have "cities" in the sense that southerners would recognize, just small towns.
The Inuktitut name is in italics.
- 1 Iqaluit — capital and largest settlement of Nunavut
- 2 Pangnirtung (Pangniqtuuq) — gateway to the Auyuittuq National Park
- 3 Resolute (Qausuittuq) — on Cornwallis Island, close to where Sir John Franklin's lost expedition spent their first winter
- 4 Igloolik
— the home-base of the only Inuit circus, Artcirq - 5 Rankin Inlet (Kangiqliniq) — an air transport hub, and gateway to Iqalugaarjuup Nunanga Territorial Park
- 6 Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq) — Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, intent on traversing the Northwest Passage, anchored the Gjoa here for nearly two years. Today, more than 1000 Netsilik Inuit call it home.
- 7 Cambridge Bay - nowadays, it's the largest stop for passenger and research vessels traversing the Arctic Ocean's Northwest Passage.
Other destinations
- 1 Alert — the world's northernmost settlement
- 1 Auyuittuq National Park — its name means "the land that never melts", and it includes many terrains of the Arctic wilderness, such as fjords, glaciers, and ice fields
- 2 Baffin Island (Qikiqtaaluk) — Canada's largest island, in the eastern portion of the territory of Nunavut
- 3 Ellesmere Island (Inuit: Umingmak Nuna, "land of muskoxen") —
- 4 Ellef Ringnes Island — the land nearest the geomagnetic north pole, which used to pass through the island
- 5 Devon Island (Inuit: Tatlurutit) — the world's largest deserted island... with a cemetery, the northernmost in the world
- 2 Qausuittuq National Park — covers 2/3 of Bathurst Island, and protects an important Peary caribou habitat
- 3 Quttinirpaaq National Park — protecting a huge area of polar desert on Ellesmere Island, accessible by charter tours, the launching point for trekking to the North Pole
- 4 Sirmilik National Park — the "place of glaciers" consists of three parcels on Baffin Island
- 5 Ukkusiksalik National Park — a park with more than 400 documented archaeological sites, near Repulse Bay on the mainland of Nunavut
- 6 Four Corners (Canada)—the remote meeting point of the borders of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Understand
Until the end of World War II, when the Canadian government began to realize its strategic importance, the Canadian far north was seen as a barren and desolate place, inhabited by indigenous peoples and containing vast mineral resources that had (and have) yet to be exploited. In 1982, after much debate and argument, it was decided to divide the Northwest Territories into two parts, one called Nunavut and the other retaining the name "Northwest Territories". On April 1, 1999, Nunavut came into existence.
Nunavut means our land in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. The official languages are English, French, Inuktitut, and Innuinaqtun.
It is one of the most sparsely populated regions of the world. The immense territory includes most of Canada's Arctic Islands, from Baffin Island in the territory's southeast, where the capital Iqaluit is located, to Ellesmere Island a few hundred kilometres from the North Pole. The territory also includes all of the islands in Hudson Bay.
Talk
Around 65% of people living in Nunavut speak Inuktitut as a first language, and the language is co-official with English and French in the territory. Inuktitut is the traditional language spoken by the Inuit people, and is closely related to Greenlandic. It is a somewhat hard language to learn for the English speaker, and most English speaking people won’t even be able to read it because it is written in its own unique script. Though most Inuit probably speak English, it would be a good idea to learn a few key phrases or bring an Inuktitut phrase book along. Learning the script in any case is relatively easy to do. French may also be useful, though not necessary. In the more remote places, Inuktitut may be necessary. Public signage is generally bilingual in Inuktitut and English.
Get in
Access is only by air: there is no road or rail from the south, and consequently prices are rather expensive owing to the difficulty of shipping goods in. Cargo vessels do make the trip up to Iqaluit by sea in the summer months, but there are no passenger vessels that ply these routes.
Get around
In the smaller communities (less than 3,000), ATVs and trucks are used during the short summer (when there is no snow).
In the winter, snowmobiles are the main way of getting around. Dog sleds are also used but owning and maintaining a dog team can be a very costly endeavour. Getting to and from the different communities can only be done by air; there are no roads linking the different population centres in the territory.
See
The capital, Iqaluit, has a few buildings of interest: the territorial legislature, a museum, and an igloo-shaped Anglican Church.
The Aurora Borealis can be easily seen from October to March in the centre of the community, but by taking a walk out of the town, they can be more spectacular. Inuit people have many legends about the auroras, which can be heard by talking to people in Rankin.
In Gjoa Haven, you can explore sights associated with the Sir John Franklin's 1845 lost expedition and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen.
Do
Guided excursions around the island and Arctic expeditions further afield organized by outfitters (there are several in Iqaluit) are the principal way of seeing Nunavut's truly great outdoors. Summer activities include trekking, and boat and fishing tours in Frobisher Bay. In the winter months, dog-sledding journeys are an excellent way to get out and explore the landscape.
Marine wildlife watching is particularly good in Resolute Bay: pods of beluga and narwhal can be seen from the beach as they head to their summer feeding grounds.
A walk five minutes outside a community like Rankin Inlet will give you the opportunity to see terrain which appears untouched by humans. Spring and summer brings squirrels, which are everywhere, chattering incessantly from their perches, as do peregrine falcons and gyrfalcons. Keep a watchful eye on the area to see loons, geese, swans and cranes, which will keep photographers busy.
Eat
Some towns may offer small restaurants or coffee shops.
Try some traditional Inuit food, such as raw seal meat. For many Inuit, hunting is still the primary way of acquiring food, so many northern foods can be bought from local fishers or hunters and cooked. Arctic char has been a staple food for thousands of years. It is a sustainable fish related to salmon and trout that is valued for its delicate taste, striking colour, and health benefits. Caribou meat.
The main grocers are Co-op and Northern, a common grocery for Nunavut. Because most food is shipped in on planes, be prepared to pay extraordinarily high prices for perishables, such as milk, fruit, and vegetables.
During the short summer, foraging for wild plants such as mountain sorrel, snow-bed willow, Labrador tea, lamb's quarter, violet and shepherd's purse has been an important supplement to the Inuit diet. Local berries include cranberries, cloudberries, blueberries, gooseberries and crowberries.
In Nunavut, any food that the land provides is called "country food": caribou, Arctic char, salmon, musk ox, seal, whale, seafood (fish, clams and mussels), Arctic hare and ptarmigan. Country food is often accompanied by imported sauces, such as soy sauce, or traditional sauces made from caribou or seal.
Drink
In many places in Nunavut there is a local law prohibiting all alcohol. Given the high rates of addiction and suicide in many places, communities have felt the need to adopt this extreme position. Do not bring any alcohol into an officially dry community, as you can exacerbate the local problems with alcohol abuse and even cause a person's death.
In other communities, local bars are permitted to operate. There are no local liquor stores outside Iqaluit; a warehouse in each of Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit will ship hard liquor outside the community but this must be ordered in advance.
Sleep
As with food, accommodation is very expensive in Nunavut. Expect to pay premium prices for fairly basic accommodation.
Stay safe
- See also: Winter in North America
The cold weather and dangerous animals articles have advice which will be relevant to many travellers in the Arctic.
There is no 9-1-1 emergency number in Nunavut. Use the local seven-digit numbers to reach individual emergency services in each community.