Arctic Bay (
Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᒃᐱᐊᕐᔪᒃ, ''Ikpiarjuk'' "the pocket") is an
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
hamlet located in the northern part of the
Borden Peninsula on
Baffin Island in the
Qikiqtaaluk Region of
Nunavut, Canada. Arctic Bay is located in the
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small p ...
although it is quite close to the time zone boundary. The predominant languages are
Inuktitut and English. Arctic Bay is notable for being the birthplace of the former
Premier of Nunavut
The premier of Nunavut ( iu, ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ; Inuinnaqtun: ''Hivuliqti Nunavunmi''; french: premier ministre du Nunavut) is the first minister for the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The premier is the territory's head of governme ...
and, as of 2021, the
Commissioner of Nunavut
The commissioner of Nunavut ( iu, ᑲᒥᓯᓇ ᓄᓇᕗᒧᑦ; Inuinnaqtun: ''Kamisinauyuq Nunavunmut''; french: Commissaire du Nunavut) is the Government of Canada's representative in the territory of Nunavut. The current commissioner since Janua ...
,
Eva Aariak
Eva Qamaniq Aariak ( iu, ᐄᕙ ᐋᕆᐊᒃ, ; born January 10, 1955) is a Canadian Inuk politician, who was elected in the 2008 territorial election to represent the electoral district of Iqaluit East in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut ...
. It is the northern most public community in Canada, not formed from
forced relocation
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...
.
History
![Arctic-bay-health-centre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Arctic-bay-health-centre.jpg)
The Arctic Bay area has been occupied for nearly 5000 years by Inuit migrating from the west. In 1872, a European whaling ship, the ''Arctic'', captained by Willie Adams, passed through and gave the area its English name. It has the lowest
tidal range
Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun and the rotation of Earth. Tidal range depends on time and location.
...
in Canada.
The Inuktitut name for Arctic Bay is ''Ikpiarjuk'' which means "the pocket" in English. This name describes the high hills that surround the almost landlocked bay. To the southeast, the flat-topped King George V Mountain dominates the landscape of the hamlet. The community is served by annual supply
sealift
Sealift is a term used predominantly in military logistics and refers to the use of cargo ships for the deployment of military assets, such as weaponry, vehicles, military personnel, and supplies. It complements other means of transport, such a ...
, and by
Arctic Bay Airport
Arctic Bay Airport is an airport located southeast of Arctic Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Until January 12, 2010 Nanisivik Airport, about from Arctic Bay, was used for scheduled flights. On January 13, 2010, First Air transferred all air services ...
. There is also a road connecting it to
Nanisivik
Nanisivik ( iu, ᓇᓂᓯᕕᒃ, lit=the place where people find things; ) is a now-abandoned company town which was built in 1975 to support the lead-zinc mining and mineral processing operations for the Nanisivik Mine, in production between 1 ...
, a former mining community just inland that is now closed. Residents had hoped to boost their housing and public facilities with buildings relocated from Nanisivik, but those hopes were dashed due to lead-zinc contamination. However, a church was relocated from Nanisivik to Arctic Bay in April 2007.
Nanisivik was officially closed in 2006. Currently all that remains are two small houses, the rest of the community was demolished and stored underground.
On 10 August 2007, Prime Minister
Stephen Harper announced the creation of
Nanisivik Naval Facility
The Nanisivik Naval Facility (french: links=no, installation navale de Nanisivik) is a Canadian Forces naval facility on Baffin Island, Nunavut. The station is built at the former lead-zinc mine site near the former company town of Nanisivik. Th ...
, to reinforce Canadian presence in the Arctic. The original plans have been downgraded after geotechnical problems increased the cost; it will now operate for four months a year as a refuelling station, primarily for the
''Harry DeWolf''-class Arctic patrol ships. Construction began in August 2014 and the facility is planned to be fully operational by summer 2020.
In October 2020, clothing manufacturer
Canada Goose and Canadian actor
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion.
He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...
announced the donation of over 300 repurposed parkas and boots to K-12 students at Inuujaq School. The donation came after a tweet from activist Koonoo Han, who had grown up in the community, drawing attention to the needs of the community.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada, Arctic Bay had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Recreation
![Arctic Bay Welcome Sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Arctic_Bay_Welcome_Sign.jpg)
Arctic Bay is host to multiple recreational events and institutions.
The
Royal Canadian Army Cadets meet three times a week. This is a program under the purview of the
Department of National Defence. Youth aged 12 and up are welcome to join and take part in a variety of activities. The cadets regularly practice marksmanship and do a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, camping, orienteering and the biathlon.
For adults, there are several sports teams and activities that meet regularly at the gym attached to the school. Basketball, soccer, volleyball and hockey are the most popular activities. There is a hockey rink that is open to the public during the winter months. There is also a community art class hosted every Thursday evening.
The Youth Council is actively involved in recreation. They run an assortment of events and activities for the community. Most recently, they have opened up a CAP (community access point) site at a local church hall for community internet use. Aside from almost daily internet access, this hall is also used weekly for the community Elders to gather and socialize. Various other activities and classes take place here.
The local Community Hall, also known as the Sea Hall, is host to a variety of recreational activities.
Outdoor activities remain quite common. While some residents maintain the traditional skills of their ancestors, most now hunt with guns. Tents are still hand made and used frequently during the summer months. Ice fishing is a common activity during the winter months. Seal and narwhal hunting are quite common to supplement food and clothing.
Common Canadian events also take place in Arctic Bay, such as the
Terry Fox Run
The Terry Fox Run is an annual non-competitive charity event held around the world to raise money for cancer research
in commemoration of Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope.
The event was founded in 1981 by Isadore Sh ...
, which is particularly popular.
The area is popular for sport hunters coming to hunt
polar bears although this may change with the listing of the polar bear as a threatened species. The current mayor is Andrew Taqtu who is well known for his preservation of traditional hunting skills as shown on a BBC film ''A Boy Among Polar Bears''.
Midnight Sun Marathon
Arctic Bay was home to the Midnight Sun Marathon, one of the northernmost contests held in the world.
Transportation
![Arctic Bay Airport Terminal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Arctic_Bay_Airport_Terminal.jpg)
Scheduled flights to and from Arctic Bay arrive at
Arctic Bay Airport
Arctic Bay Airport is an airport located southeast of Arctic Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Until January 12, 2010 Nanisivik Airport, about from Arctic Bay, was used for scheduled flights. On January 13, 2010, First Air transferred all air services ...
. This airport was certified in 2011 after completing major construction of the runway and a new terminal building. Currently, regular flights to the Arctic Bay are available through
First Air
Bradley Air Services Limited, operating as First Air, was an airline headquartered in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.[Iqaluit
Iqaluit ( ; , ; ) is the capital of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the Frobisher Bay, large bay on the c ...]
and
Resolute.
Prior to the existence of this airport,
Twin Otter
The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restart ...
aircraft would use the main street leading into the town as a landing strip or used the
Nanisivik Airport.
Education
The community is served by a single K–12 school, Inuujaq School, that has an enrollment of around 200 students. There is also a
Nunavut Arctic College
Nunavut Arctic College ( iu, ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᒃ, french: Collège de l’Arctique du Nunavut, Inuinnaqtun: ''Nunavunmi Inirnirit Iliharviat'') is a public community college in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. The colle ...
host site where the
Nunavut Teacher Education Program (NTEP) is being taught. In 2009 many of the NTEP graduates, who are locals, will become teachers in levels from kindergarten to grade 7. As the only outsiders in the community are government workers, the student population is almost entirely Inuit and the first language spoken is
Inuktitut.
Like most high schools in Nunavut, Inuujaq uses the
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
educational curriculum. However, one challenge faced by educators in this community is that most students read at a lower level than their Alberta counterparts. As with most schools in Nunavut, the school is under the partial authority of the locally elected District Education Authority (DEA) who design policy as well as make decisions regarding discipline, spending, and cultural activities.
Broadband communications
The community has been served by the
Qiniq network since 2005. Qiniq is a fixed wireless service to homes and businesses, connecting to the outside world via a satellite backbone. The Qiniq network is designed and operated by
SSI Micro. In 2017, the network was upgraded to 4G LTE technology, and 2G-GSM for mobile voice.
Climate
Arctic Bay experiences a
tundra climate
The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''ET'') like most northern
Canadian territories
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nort ...
at low elevations, with long, very cold winters and short, cool to cold summers. July is the only month with an average low temperature above
freezing
Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid ...
. Its climate does not differ from the more severe
subarctic climates except for the practically non-existent summer (even
Svalbard, an island to the north, has much warmer summers). Even in summer, the average temperature at dawn can be below freezing. The amount of precipitation is of an
arid climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...
, below , and the days of snow is comparable to a coastal city of a lake or sea in the
middle latitudes
The middle latitudes (also called the mid-latitudes, sometimes midlatitudes, or moderate latitudes) are a spatial region on Earth located between the Tropic of Cancer ( latitudes 23°26'22") to the Arctic Circle (66°33'39"), and Tropic of Cap ...
, but low for the location. Most precipitation is between summer and early fall.
With the thawing process of
permafrost, some communities such as Arctic Bay may be affected by
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
ing due to the melting of sea ice and
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
due to the mechanical process of temperature changes and their own variation.
See also
*
List of municipalities in Nunavut
Nunavut is the least populous of Canada's three territories with 36,858 residents as of 2021, but the largest territory in land area, at . Nunavut is also larger than any of Canada's ten provinces. Nunavut's 25 municipalities cover only o ...
References
Further reading
* Hoppner, K., J. M. McLaughlan, B. G. Shah, J. N. Thompson, Joyce Beare-Rogers, J. Ellestad-Sayed, and O. Schaefer. ''Nutrient Levels of Some Foods of Eskimos from Arctic Bay, N.W.T., Canada''. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Vol.73,No.3, September. 1978.
* Innuksuk, Rhoda, and Susan Cowan. ''We Don't Live in Snow Houses Now Reflections of Arctic Bay''. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Arctic Producers, 1976.
* Oakes, Jill E. ''Factors Influencing Kamik Production in Arctic Bay, Northwest Territories''. Mercury series. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: National Museum of Canada, 1987.
* Tester, Frank J. ''Hunting and Trapping Shelters for the of Arctic Bay, Northwest Territories A Proposal''. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Environmental Sciences Centre (Kananaskis), University of Calgary, 1974.
* Vipond JC. 2003. "Experience at the Arctic Bay Nursing Station on the Coast of Baffin Island". ''Canadian Medical Association Journal''. 169, no. 12: 1305–7.
External links
Arctic Bay at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association
{{Authority control
Bays of Baffin Island
Populated places in Arctic Canada
Hudson's Bay Company trading posts in Nunavut
Hamlets in the Qikiqtaaluk Region
Road-inaccessible communities of Nunavut
Populated places in Baffin Island