Parker's Notch, named after former

Commissioner of the Northwest Territories The commissioner of the Northwest Territories (french: Commissaire des Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is the Government of Canada's representative in the Northwest Territories. Similar in certain functions to a lieutenant governor, the commissioner s ...

John Havelock Parker John Havelock Parker, OC (February 2, 1929 – March 9, 2020) was the commissioner of the Northwest Territories from April 15, 1979 to July 31, 1989. He had previously been Deputy Commissioner of Northwest Territories from 1967 to 1979. Biogra ...

, is a protrusion of 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. ...

southwards into

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'' ...

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, ...

. In the Northwest Territories the protrusion is part of the

Inuvik Region The Inuvik Region or ''Beaufort Delta Region'' is one of five administrative regions in the Northwest Territories of Canada. According to Municipal and Community Affairs the region consists of eight communities with the regional office situate ...

and 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 ...

in Nunavut.

Description

Parker's Notch is located on the

Wollaston Peninsula The Wollaston Peninsula (previously, Wollaston Land) is a west-pointing peninsula located on southwestern Victoria Island, Canada. It is bordered by Prince Albert Sound to the north, Amundsen Gulf to the west and Dolphin and Union Strait to the ...

in southwestern Victoria Island. The notch protrudes south from the

70th parallel north The 70th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 70 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane, in the Arctic. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Asia and North America, and passes through some of the southern seas of the Arcti ...

and encompasses most of Quunnguq Lake.

Formation

Parker's Notch was formed as a result of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA). The agreement, signed on June 5, 1984 after 10 years of negotiations, created the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. In the agreement, the

Inuvialuit The Inuvialuit (sing. Inuvialuk; ''the real people'') or Western Canadian Inuit are Inuit who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They, like all other Inuit, are descendants of the Thule who migrated eastward from Alaska. Their homelan ...

were given legal control over of land, including subsurface rights to of oil, gas and minerals. In addition, the Inuvialuit were given the right to hunt and harvest anywhere in the claimed area. They also became responsible for

wildlife management Wildlife management is the management process influencing interactions among and between wildlife, its habitats and people to achieve predefined impacts. It attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best availabl ...

, becoming part of a wildlife management team with the government. In exchange, the Inuvialuit gave up their exclusive use of their lands. The agreement also set the border between the Inuvialuit region and the Northwest Territories. The border agreement included a notch of land on the east–west line on

that would encompass Quunnguq Lake.Inuvialuit Regional Corporation
THE WESTERN ARCTIC CLAIM - Inuvialuit Final Agreement
. inuvialuitland.com. January 15, 1987. Retrieved March 12, 2013. Quunnguq Lake was a traditional hunting and fishing location for the Inuvialuit, and was included in the IFA to protect access to the lake to them. The notch was later reaffirmed in the 1993

Nunavut Act The history of Nunavut covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Eskimo thousands of years ago to present day. Prior to the colonization of the continent by Europeans, the lands encompassing present-day Nunavut were inhabited by several ...

.Nunavut Act, SC 1993, c 28
Canlii.org. April 1, 2003. Retrieved March 12, 2013.

References

{{reflist * Parker, John. 1996. Arctic Power: ''The Path to Responsible Government in Canada’s North''. Peterborough: The Cider Press. History of Nunavut Borders of the Northwest Territories Borders of Nunavut Geography of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region History of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Description

Formation

See also

References