Killiniq (meaning: ''ice floes'',
iu, ᑭᓪᓕᓂᖅ) (previous spelling: Killinek; local variants: Killipaartalik or Kikkertaujak (''peninsula''); previously: Bishop Jones' Village; sometimes referred to as:
Port Burwell)
is a former
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 ...
settlement,
weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...
,
trading post
A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded.
Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
, missionary post, fishing station, and
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
post on
Killiniq Island
Killiniq Island (English: ''ice floes'') is a remote island in southeastern Nunavut and northern Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Located at the extreme northern tip of Labrador between Ungava Bay and the Labrador Sea, it is notable in that it c ...
. Previously within
Labrador
, nickname = "The Big Land"
, etymology =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 ...
, and then the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, it is now situated within the borders of
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
.
The community closed in 1978.
Geography
Killiniq, the settlement, is located on
Killiniq Island
Killiniq Island (English: ''ice floes'') is a remote island in southeastern Nunavut and northern Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Located at the extreme northern tip of Labrador between Ungava Bay and the Labrador Sea, it is notable in that it c ...
, situated in
Ungava Bay
Ungava Bay (french: baie d'Ungava, ; iu, ᐅᖓᕙ ᑲᖏᖅᓗᒃ/) is a bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik (far northern Quebec) from Baffin Island. Although not geographically apparent, it is considered to be a marginal sea of the ...
at the extreme northern tip of Labrador. The island contains the only land border between the territory of Nunavut, to the west, and the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, to the east.
The settlement developed around Port Burwell harbour, located at the mouth of
Hudson Strait
Hudson Strait (french: Détroit d'Hudson) links the Atlantic Ocean and Labrador Sea to Hudson Bay in Canada. This strait lies between Baffin Island and Nunavik, with its eastern entrance marked by Cape Chidley in Newfoundland and Labrador and ...
.
It is surrounded by coastal cliffs of an otherwise barren and rocky island, and a sea, frozen almost year-round.
Though there is an abundance of seal, walrus, and
Arctic char
The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populatio ...
that promoted habitation, the settlement area is bereft of trees and wood. Some brushwood is scattered amongst stones. Wildflowers and moss are found nearby, but berries are located miles further afield.
History
The Killiniq locality appears as early as 1569 on a
Mercator __NOTOC__
Mercator (Latin for "merchant") may refer to:
People
* Marius Mercator (c. 390–451), a Catholic ecclesiastical writer
* Arnold Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer
* Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer
** Mercator 1569 ...
map. It was visited in 1587 by John Davis, and in 1602 by
George Weymouth
George Weymouth (Waymouth) () was an English explorer of the area now occupied by the state of Maine.
Voyages
George Weymouth was a native of Cockington, Devon, who spent his youth studying shipbuilding and mathematics.
In 1602 Weymouth was ...
.
Approximately south of Killiniq,
Alpheus Spring Packard
Alpheus Spring Packard Jr. LL.D. (February 19, 1839 – February 14, 1905) was an American entomologist and palaeontologist. He described over 500 new animal species – especially butterflies and moths – and was one of the founders of ''The Am ...
, the American
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
and
palaeontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
, discovered the remains of an Inuit settlement.
A Dominion Government Meteorological Station was established at Port Burwell in 1884.
From 1898 through 1904,
Job Brothers & Co., Limited, a
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
-based mercantile and trading company operated a fishing station.
The
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
missionary, Rev. Sam M. Stewart of the
Colonial and Continental Church Society arrived in 1899 to establish a mission. Having been appointed by
Llewellyn Jones, Bishop of Newfoundland to the post, Stewart called the settlement "Bishop Jones' Village".
in 1899.
In 1904, the
Moravian missionaries, the Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among the Heathen, bought the Job Brothers station. At the northwest corner of the Fort Burwell harbour,
they established their own mission and trading post, including a bakery, smithy, and carpentry shop. Church services included a
harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
. The next year, the Moravians announced in their periodical account that the local name "Kikkertaujak" would be changed to "Killinek".
Some of the missionaries included Rev. P. Hettasch, Rev. Walter W. Perrett, and Rev. S. Waldmann. During the period of August–October 1906,
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
Bernhard Hantzsch
Bernhard Adolph Hantzsch (12 January 1875 – June 1911) was a German ornithologist, Arctic researcher, and writer, notable for his discovery of two Icelandic bird subspecies. Hantzsch was the first white man to cross Baffin Island.Anderson (1928 ...
stayed at the Killiniq mission studying the
Inuit culture
The Inuit are an indigenous people of the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America (parts of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland). The ancestors of the present-day Inuit are culturally related to Iñupiat (northern Alaska), and Yupik (Siberia and ...
, and creating bird and mammal inventories of the surrounding lakes and mountains. The Moravians closed their mission in 1924.
In 1916, the Hudson's Bay Company moved their
George River trading post to the northeast part of the Fort Burwell harbour.
The Moravians sold their post to the HBC in 1923, and the HBC closed the consolidated trading post in 1939.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police posted a detachment in 1920, and expanded it in 1926. It was moved in 1936 to
Port Harrison, Quebec.
In 1942, the Hudson's Bay Company moved a dozen residents from Port Burwell to
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 the ...
. Though Killinek lacked a permanent landing strip because of its terrain, the United States Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard wanted to use the location as a stop over while constructing Arctic airfields in
Baffin Island
Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...
,
Northern Quebec Northern Quebec (french: le nord du Québec) is a geographic term denoting the northerly, more remote and less populated parts of the Canadian province of Quebec.Alexandre Robaey"Charity group works with Indigenous communities to feed Northern Quebe ...
, and
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
during the Second World War.
The Kikitayok Co-op was established in 1952 with animal materials, sculptures, biscuits, sardines, and ammunition. It was the second Co-op in the eastern Arctic. In 1964, a classroom was built and there was a full-time teacher in Killinq.
The airport code for the landing strip was XBW.
Although the
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 ...
of Killiniq were recognized as a signatory to the
James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement
The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (french: Convention de la Baie-James et du Nord québécois) is an Aboriginal land claim settlement, approved in 1975 by the Cree and Inuit of northern Quebec, and later slightly modified in 1978 by th ...
in November 1975, this did not prevent a gradual deterioration in government services and programs at Killiniq. This decline created an insecure environment and gave rise to a slow outmigration of families in search of settlements with assured access to essential services, especially medical and air transport. Between November 1975 and February 1978, a total of 50 Inuit left Killiniq in search of a more secure environment.
On 8 February 1978, the 47 people that remained were notified by radio that the government of the Northwest Territories was sending planes to move them from the community and that the settlement would be closed. The majority were moved to
Kangiqsualujjuaq, Quebec on the southern end of
Ungava Bay
Ungava Bay (french: baie d'Ungava, ; iu, ᐅᖓᕙ ᑲᖏᖅᓗᒃ/) is a bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik (far northern Quebec) from Baffin Island. Although not geographically apparent, it is considered to be a marginal sea of the ...
.
All of the former residents were scattered in the host communities of
Nunavik
Nunavik (; ; iu, ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, part of the Nord-du-Québec region and nearly coterminous with Kativik. Covering a land area of north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the I ...
, the homeland of the Inuit of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. They arrived without housing, without income, and without many of their personal effects. Family groups were broken up and the Inuit were separated from their seasonal hunting territory. The host communities were neither advised nor prepared for this influx of people and there were no follow up programs or special funds to help with the resettlement.
In subsequent years, there were sporadic visits by Inuit to Killiniq, including a fisheries project from 1983 through 1985 sponsored by the Makivik Corporation. Feasibility studies were conducted in the mid-1980s to relocate the displaced Killiniq Inuit to
Taqpangajuk, Quebec Taqpangajuk was an attempted Inuit resettlement located at Singer Inlet, southwest of Killiniq, Nunavut, Killiniq in Quebec, northeastern Canada. The settlement was created in the 1980s as part of a relocation program from Killiniq. Its forecast po ...
on the mainland, to the south of Killiniq. In the winter of 1987, several displaced Killiniq families established a new community at Taqpangajuk without government assistance.
Killiniq served as a summertime
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in ...
weather station (VAW)
until the early 1990s.
Sixteen years after the 1978 evacuation, an environmental survey was conducted in Killiniq to assess the remaining buildings, facilities and materials. The town was demolished during the 1980s or 1990s. The power lines and poles were cut down and some of the abandoned residences were bulldozed or burned; however, several are still standing today. A broken down bulldozer still exists at the site however the fuel supplies that had been left have been reported to have been depleted by visitors to the site.
Demographics
During 200 years of recorded history between 1773 and 1978, the Inuit population estimates fluctuated from as small as two to three families, to as many as 200 residents.
In addition to the Inuit, Killiniq's posts, missions, and weather stations were also populated with traders, missionaries, and weather observers.
References
{{Subdivisions of Nunavut
Ghost towns in Nunavut
Hudson's Bay Company trading posts in Nunavut
Former populated places in the Qikiqtaaluk Region
1884 establishments in the British Empire