Kugluktuk (, ;
Inuktitut syllabics
Inuktitut syllabics ( iu, ᖃᓂᐅᔮᖅᐸᐃᑦ, qaniujaaqpait, or , ) is an abugida-type writing system used in Canada by the Inuktitut-speaking Inuit of the territory of Nunavut and the Nunavik and Nunatsiavut regions of Quebec and Labra ...
: ; ), formerly known as Coppermine until 1 January 1996, is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
located at the mouth of the
Coppermine River
The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave and Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake, and flows generally north to Coronation Gulf, ...
in the
Kitikmeot Region
Kitikmeot Region (; Inuktitut: ''Qitirmiut'' ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boothia Peninsula, together ...
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'' ...
, Canada, on
Coronation Gulf
Coronation Gulf lies between Victoria Island and mainland Nunavut in Canada. To the northwest it connects with Dolphin and Union Strait and thence the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean; to the northeast it connects with Dease Strait and thence Queen M ...
, southwest of
Victoria Island
Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the List of islands by area, eighth-largest island in the world, ...
. It is the westernmost community in Nunavut, near the border with 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. ...
.
The traditional language of the area is
Inuinnaqtun
Inuinnaqtun (; natively meaning ''like the real human beings/peoples''), is an indigenous Inuit language. It is spoken in the central Canadian Arctic. It is related very closely to Inuktitut, and some scholars, such as Richard Condon, believe ...
and is written using the
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...
, rather than the
syllabics of the Inuktitut writing system. Like
Cambridge Bay
Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: ''Iqaluktuuttiaq'' Inuktitut: ᐃᖃᓗᒃᑑᑦᑎᐊᖅ; 2021 population 1,760; population centre 1,403) is a hamlet located on Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest settl ...
,
Bathurst Inlet
Bathurst Inlet, officially Kiluhiqtuq, is a deep inlet located along the northern coast of the Canadian mainland, at the east end of Coronation Gulf, into which the Burnside and Western rivers empty. The name, or its native equivalent ''Kingo ...
, and
Umingmaktok
Umingmaktok ( Inuinnaqtun: ''Umingmaktuuq'', "he or she caught a muskox") is a now abandoned settlement located in Bathurst Inlet in the Kitikmeot of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The community was previously known as Bay Chimo and the Inu ...
, syllabics are rarely seen and are used mainly by the Government of Nunavut.
History
In 1982, a
division plebiscite was held. While approximately 80% of the population in what is now Nunavut voted in favour of division, Coppermine was one of only two communities to vote against division.
Cambridge Bay
Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: ''Iqaluktuuttiaq'' Inuktitut: ᐃᖃᓗᒃᑑᑦᑎᐊᖅ; 2021 population 1,760; population centre 1,403) is a hamlet located on Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest settl ...
was the other.
In June 2004, a fuel line broke in the centre of Kugluktuk, spilling of
diesel fuel
Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...
.
Geography
Kugluktuk is located on the shore of the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
. The surrounding landscape is dominated by the rocky and often barren
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...
. The region has a
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...
, but barely so, with July having an average of . It has very cold and extremely dry winters, and moderate snowfall which is relatively high for its latitude. Though trees do exist in the region, they are dwarfed and extremely sparse.
Flora
Plant growth in the region during summer months includes small shrubs, grass, moss, lichens, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, various flowers, and dwarf willow and birch trees.
Climate
Kugluktuk features a
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
: ''Dfc''); like most of mainland
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'' ...
; with wet summers and dry winters. It is in the transitional zone to a
cold tundra climate (''ET''), but falls outside of it, since its warmest month of July surpasses the isotherm, averaging .
The highest temperature ever recorded in Kugluktuk was on 15 July 1989.
The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 2 February 1968.
Demographics
As a
census subdivision
The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of sta ...
in the
2021 Canadian census
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 sl ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
, Kugluktuk had a population of 1,382 living in 397 of its 438 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,491. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
As a
designated place
A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the sta ...
in the 2021 census, Kugluktuk had a population of 956 living in 265 of its 296 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,057. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Infrastructure
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.
Education
The two schools in the community are
Kugluktuk High School and
Jimmy Hikok Ilihakvik.
Gallery
File:Kugluktuk NT.jpg, Kugluktuk NU
File:Lifeguard Station at Kugluktuk.jpg, A lifeguard is stationed at the beach on hot days
File:Coppermine 1980s.jpg, 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 ...
women preparing to make bannock
Bannock may mean:
* Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle
* Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying
* Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...
at Kugluktuk
File:Wildflowers, Kugluktuk, Nunavut (2008).jpg, Wildflowers in Kugluktuk
File:Kugluktuk High School.jpg, Grades 6 to 12 with a student population of about 150
File:Kugluktuk RC Church.jpg, The Roman Catholic Church at Kugluktuk
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 ...
*
Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park
Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park ( Inuinnaqtun: ''kugluk''; English: waterfall) is located about southwest of Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada. The park is situated around the Bloody Falls on the Coppermine River and was listed as a national h ...
*
Bloody Falls Massacre
The Bloody Falls massacre was an incident believed to have taken place during Hudson Bay Company employee Samuel Hearne's exploration of the Coppermine River for copper deposits near modern-day Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada on 17 July 1771. Hearne' ...
*
Bloody Falls
Bloody Falls (or Bloody Fall, or Kogluktok, meaning "it flows rapidly" or "spurts like a cut artery" in Inuktitut) is a waterfall on the Coppermine River, in the Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park of Nunavut, Canada. It was the site of the Blo ...
*
Kugluktuk Airport
Kugluktuk Airport is located at Kugluktuk, Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nuna ...
*
Joe Allen Evyagotailak
*
Donald Havioyak
*
Lena Pedersen
Lena (Elizabeth Magdalena) Pedersen or Lena Pederson (born 1940, Greenland) is a politician and social worker from Nunavut, Canada. In 1959, she moved from Greenland to the Northwest Territories and lived in Coppermine (Kugluktuk), Pangnirtung an ...
*
Kangiryuatjagmiut
*
Kangiryuarmiut The Kangiryuarmiut (or Kanhiryuarmiut; or Kanhiryiirmiut) are an Inuvialuit group, culturally and historically related to the Copper Inuit. They were historically located on Victoria Island in the areas of Prince Albert Sound, Cape Baring, and ce ...
*
John Sperry
*
The Grizzlies
''The Grizzlies'' is a 2018 Canadian sports drama film, directed by Miranda de Pencier. Based on a true story, the film depicts a youth lacrosse team that was set up to help combat an onslaught of youth suicide in the community of Kugluktuk, Nu ...
Notes
References
Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut – PDF Dialect Map
Further reading
* Dredge, L. A. Where the river meets the sea geology and landforms of the lower Coppermine River Valley and Kugluktuk, Nunavut.
ttawa Geological Survey of Canada, 2001.
* Pedersen, Lena, and Donna Stephania. ''Crime Prevention in Kugluktuk''. Ottawa:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy, also Caledon Institute, is a private Canadian think tank focused on social policy
Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society.
Some p ...
, 1999.
{{Subdivisions of Nunavut
Designated places in Nunavut
Hamlets in the Kitikmeot Region
Populated places in Arctic Canada
Road-inaccessible communities of Nunavut