Coats Island (
Inuktitut: ᐊᑉᐸᑑᕐᔪᐊᖅ, Appatuurjuaq) lies at the northern end of
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
in the
Kivalliq Region
The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island and Coats Island. The regional c ...
of
Nunavut. At in size, it is the
107th largest island in the world, and
Canada's 24th largest island.
The island has areas of federal crown land and areas of private land owned by
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 ...
, however, the last permanent residents left in the 1970s.
With no permanent settlements, the island is also the largest uninhabited island in the northern hemisphere south of the Arctic Circle. It was the last home of the
Sadlermiut
The Sadlermiut (also called Sagdlirmiut, or Sallirmiut in modern Inuktitut spelling, from ''Sadlerk'' now ''Salliq'', the Inuktitut name for the settlement of Coral Harbour, Nunavut) were an Inuit group living in near isolation mainly on and aro ...
people who are widely believed to represent the
Dorset culture
The Dorset was a Paleo-Eskimo culture, lasting from to between and , that followed the Pre-Dorset and preceded the Thule people (proto-Inuit) in the North American Arctic. The culture and people are named after Cape Dorset (now Kinngait) in ...
.
Geography
Coats Island is long. It reaches a maximum elevation of above sea level. This high point occurs along the rocky northern perimeter between Cape Pembroke and Cape Prefontaine. The underlying rocks in this area are Precambrian metamorphics. Less than 5 per cent of the island is more than above sea level. The southern half of the island is primarily low-lying muskeg and made up of Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks, such as limestone and sandstone.
Fauna
Since 1920, Coats Island has been designated a
caribou reserve. After caribou were extirpated from nearby
Southampton Island
Southampton Island (Inuktitut: ''Shugliaq'') is a large island at the entrance to Hudson Bay at Foxe Basin. One of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago, Southampton Island is part of the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut, Canada. The area of th ...
, the Coats herd was used to re-establish the Southampton herd. It is also known for its population of
thick-billed murre
The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' ...
. Two colonies of 30,000 birds occur along the cliffs at the rocky northern end. There are also significant concentrations of
walrus
The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...
at walrus haulouts at the base of cliffs or on offshore islands at the northern end of the island (one each at
Cape Pembroke
Cape Pembroke ( es, Cabo San Felipe) is the easternmost point of the Falkland Islands, and is on East Falkland. There is an automated lighthouse here.
Lighthouse
An automated lighthouse on Cape Pembroke was built in 1855, and rebuilt in 1906 ...
and
Cape Prefontaine). These are visited regularly by Inuit from the hamlet at Coral Harbour, on
Southampton Island
Southampton Island (Inuktitut: ''Shugliaq'') is a large island at the entrance to Hudson Bay at Foxe Basin. One of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago, Southampton Island is part of the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut, Canada. The area of th ...
, for harvesting.
Cape Pembroke is an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
.
History
The first recorded sighting of Coats Island by Europeans was in 1612 by
Thomas Button
Sir Thomas Button (died April, 1634) was a Wales, Welsh officer of the Royal Navy, notable as an explorer who in 1612–1613 commanded an expedition that unsuccessfully attempted to locate explorer Henry Hudson and to navigate the Northwest Pa ...
; he explored it further the following year.
It received its name from William Coats, a sea captain for the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
. He visited the area periodically between 1727 and 1751.
In 1824,
HMS ''Griper'', under Captain
George Francis Lyon
George Francis Lyon (23 January 1796 – 8 October 1832) was an English naval officer and explorer of Africa and the Arctic. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and ...
, anchored off
Cape Pembroke
Cape Pembroke ( es, Cabo San Felipe) is the easternmost point of the Falkland Islands, and is on East Falkland. There is an automated lighthouse here.
Lighthouse
An automated lighthouse on Cape Pembroke was built in 1855, and rebuilt in 1906 ...
on Coats Island. The
whalers then discovered a band of "
Eskimos" who were said to have spoken a "strange dialect" and were called ''
Sadlermiut
The Sadlermiut (also called Sagdlirmiut, or Sallirmiut in modern Inuktitut spelling, from ''Sadlerk'' now ''Salliq'', the Inuktitut name for the settlement of Coral Harbour, Nunavut) were an Inuit group living in near isolation mainly on and aro ...
''.
Since then, the Sadlermiut continued to establish contact with Westerners. However, as with many
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n
aboriginals, the Sadlermiut were often susceptible to Western diseases.
The area was confirmed to be an island by American whalers, who began visiting the area in the 1860s. By 1896, there were only 70 of Sadlermiut remaining. Then, in the fall of 1902, the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
trading and whaling
vessel named the ''Active'' had made a stop at Cape Low,
Southampton Island. It is said that some of the Sadlermiut caught a disease, possibly an
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
,
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...
or
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
, from a sick sailor aboard the ''Active'', which then spread to the entire community.
By winter 1902–03, the entire Sadlermiut population had died as a result.
A
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
trading post was maintained on the island from August 1920 to August 1924, and a number of
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 ...
families lived on the island during that period, some of whom had been brought from Baffin Island on boats. In 1921, an overturned fisherman's dory covering two skeletons was found by Capt. George Cleveland on Coats Island which were alleged to be the remains of Captain Arthur Gibbons and one of his officers, survivors of the wreck of the American whaling schooner ''
A. T. Gifford''. The Canadian Government held a criminal investigation.
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References
{{Subdivisions of Nunavut
Islands of Hudson Bay
Uninhabited islands of Kivalliq Region
Hudson's Bay Company trading posts in Nunavut
Former populated places in the Kivalliq Region