Igloolik

Igloolik ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ Iglulik
Hamlet
Igloolik
Igloolik
Coordinates: 69°22′34″N 081°47′58″W / 69.37611°N 81.79944°W / 69.37611; -81.79944Coordinates: 69°22′34″N 081°47′58″W / 69.37611°N 81.79944°W / 69.37611; -81.79944
Country	Canada
Territory	Nunavut
Region	Qikiqtaaluk Region
Electoral district	Aggu
Electoral district	Amittuq
Government[1][2][3]
• Mayor	Joseph Inooya
• MLA Aggu	Paul Quassa
• MLA Amittuq	George Qulaut
Area[4]
• Total	102.87 km2 (39.72 sq mi)
Elevation[5]	53 m (174 ft)
Population (2013)
• Total	2,000
• Density	19/km2 (50/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Canadian Postal code	X0A 0L0
Area code(s)	867

Igloolik (Syllabics: ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ , sometimes spelled Iglulik), is an Inuit hamlet, in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because it is located on Igloolik Island, close to the Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on the peninsula. The name "Igloolik" means "there is a house here". It derives from iglu, meaning house or building, and refers to the sod houses that were originally in the area, not to snow igloos.^[6] in Inuktitut.^[7] The residents are called Iglulingmiut (the suffix miut means "people of"). The mayor of Igloolik is Joe Inooya.

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 Europeans 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 schools, and clinics, 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.^[8]

Culture

Traditional amautiit made from seal (left) and caribou (right) are occasionally worn by infants and mothers, although fabric versions are more common today

Anthropologically, Iglulik Inuit are usually considered to be the Iglulingmiut, the Aivilingmiut,^[9] and the Tununirmiut, the Inuit Inupiaq-speakers on northern Baffin Island, on Southampton Island, and in the Melville Peninsula.^[10]

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 (−58 °F), 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.^[11][12] In February 2010, six members of Artcirq represented Nunavut in performances at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[13]

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.

Demographics

Sunset in Igloolik

As of the 2006 census, the population was 1,538, an increase of 19.6% from the 2001 census.^[4]

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 climate with 9 months averaging below 0 °C (32 °F).

Environmental concerns

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 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.^[15] 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, Former 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.

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Igloolik.

v t e Subdivisions of Nunavut Regions Nunavut (electoral district) Kitikmeot Unorganized Kivalliq Qikiqtaaluk Unorganized Communities Arctic Bay Arviat Baker Lake Bathurst Inlet Cambridge Bay Cape Dorset Chesterfield Inlet Clyde River Coral Harbour Gjoa Haven Grise Fiord Hall Beach Igloolik Iqaluit Apex Kimmirut Kugaaruk Kugluktuk Pangnirtung Pond Inlet Qikiqtarjuaq Rankin Inlet Repulse Bay Resolute Sanikiluaq Taloyoak Whale Cove Weather stations and Canadian Forces bases Alert CFS Alert Ennadai Eureka Isachsen Nanisivik Naval Facility Mine sites Proposed Baffinland Iron Mine Under construction Boston Camp Doris North Hope Bay Meadowbank Gold Mine Defunct Bent Horn Mine Cullaton Lake/Shear Lake Mine Jericho Diamond Mine Lupin Mine Nanisivik Mine Polaris mine Rankin Inlet Mine DEW line and NWS sites Bernard Harbour Bray Island Brevoort Island Broughton Island Byron Bay Cambridge Bay Cape Dyer Cape Hooper Cape Mcloughlin Cape Mercy Cape Peel West Cape Young Clifton Point Clinton Point Croker River Dewar Lakes Durban Island Edinburgh Island Ekalugad Gjoa Haven Gladman Point Hall Beach Harding River Hat Island Jenny Lind Island Kangok Fjord Keats Point Keith Bay Kivitoo Lady Franklin Point Lailor River Loks Land Longstaff Bluff Mackar Inlet Matheson Point Nudluardjuk Lake Pelly Bay Resolution Island Ross Point Rowley Island Scarpa Lake Shepherd Bay Simpson Lake Sturt Point Former Amadjuak Brooman Point Village Craig Harbour Dundas Harbour Iglunga Killiniq Nanisivik Native Point Nuwata Padlei Port Leopold Tavani Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Amadjuak Apex Arctic Bay Baker Lake Bathurst Inlet Bay Chimo Belcher Islands Blacklead Island Cambridge Bay Cape Dorset Charlton Island Depot Chesterfield Inlet Clyde River Coats Island Dundas Harbour Eskimo Point Fort Hearne Fort Ross Frobisher Bay Gjoa Haven Igloolik Kent Peninsula King William Island Kugaryuak Lake Harbour Mansel Island Nueltin House Padley Pangnirtung Pangnirtung Fox Farm Perry River Ponds Inlet Port Leopold Port Burwell Repulse Bay Southampton Island Tavane Tree River Wager Inlet