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Pond Inlet ( iu, Mittimatalik, lit=the place where Mittima is buried) is a small, predominantly
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 ...
community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region 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, located on northern
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 ...
. To the Inuit the name of the place "is and always has been Mittimatalik." The Scottish explorer
Sir John Ross Sir John Ross (24 June 1777 – 30 August 1856) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and polar explorer. He was the uncle of Sir James Clark Ross, who explored the Arctic with him, and later led expeditions to Antarctica. Biography Ear ...
had named an arm of the sea that separates Bylot Island from Baffin Island as Pond's Bay, and the hamlet now shares that name. On 29 August 1921, the Hudson's Bay Company opened its trading post near the Inuit camp and named it Pond Inlet, marking the expansion of its trading empire into the High Arctic. At 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 ...
the population, which is predominantly
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 ...
, was 1,555, a decrease of 3.7% from the 2016 census Pond Inlet, the largest community in Northern Baffin Island—part of the Arctic Cordillera—with mountains visible from all sides, is called the "Jewel of the North". At the ice flow edge there is an abundance of wildlife, including polar bears, caribou, wolves, arctic foxes, ringed seal, and narwhals. It attracts hundreds of visitors each year, who travel by air or by cruise ship. The Nattinnak Visitors Centre on Eclipse Sound which overlooks Bylot Island, showcases Pond Inlet artists. The Sirmilik National Park on Bylot Island, the Tamaarvik Territorial Park, and the Qilaukat Thule site are near the hamlet.


Geography

Mittimatalik, which literally means "the place where the landing place is"—known in English as Pond Inlet—is located on the northerly tip of Baffin Island in the
Lancaster Sound Lancaster Sound () is a body of water in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay ...
region on the east side of Eclipse Sound. The region has one of Canada's most inhospitable climates—with long, dark winters and temperatures averaging . By 2006, Pond Inlet with a population of 1,315, along with Clyde River with 820 and
Qikiqtarjuaq Qikiqtarjuaq (; formerly known as Broughton Island until November 1998 ,) is a community located on Broughton Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. The island is known for Arctic wildlife (ring seals, polar bears, bowhead whales, ...
with 473, comprised the population of the Arctic Cordillera—about 2,600 people. Most of the people who live in the region survive by
hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
,
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
, and
trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...
. Significant geographic features near Pond Inlet include its ice edge which attracts a diversity of wild life, particularly ringed seal, Arctic cod, murres and some other sea birds that thrive there, because of its "greater access to preferred foods". A wide arm of the sea separates Pond Inlet from Bylot Island, a large uninhabited island of . The waterways between Bylot Island and Baffin Island are
Navy Board Inlet Navy Board Inlet is a body of water in Nunavut's Qikiqtaaluk Region. It is an arm of Lancaster Sound, after which it proceeds southerly before it empties into Eclipse Sound. It is long and wide. The inlet separates Baffin Island to the west f ...
, which opens into Lancaster Sound and
Eclipse Sound Tasiujaq ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᑕᓯᐅᔭᖅ) formerly Eclipse Sound is a natural waterway through the Arctic Archipelago within the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It separates Bylot Island (to the north) from Baffin Island (to th ...
, which opens to Baffin Bay. Navy Board Inlet is the entrance to the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...
. Eclipse Sound separates Pond Inlet from Bylot Island and has a series of deeply cut inlets west of Pond Inlet, including
Milne Inlet Milne Inlet () is a small, shallow arm of Eclipse Sound which, along with Navy Board Inlet, separates Bylot Island from Baffin Island in Nunavut's Qikiqtaaluk Region. Milne Inlet flows in a southerly direction from Navy Board Inlet at the c ...
, a small inlet, flows south from Navy Board Inlet at the confluence of Eclipse Sound. The Pond Inlet region, including Bylot Island, is covered by the Arctic Cordillera, a terrestrial ecozone in Canada, characterized by a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges. There are mountains visible from all sides of Pond Inlet. From the summit of Mount Herodier at , which is east of the hamlet, the entire area is visible. Inuit from Pond Inlet travel to the Island regularly and its mountains form a backdrop to the hamlet's landscape. Bylot Island along with Sirmilik National Park, is a
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
. The Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which is across the Eclipse Sound from Pond Inlet, has been a federally protected area since 1962 and is the second largest Migratory Bird Sanctuary (MBS). It was created to protect the
nesting ground In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s 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'' ...
,
black-legged kittiwake The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...
and
greater snow goose The snow goose (''Anser caerulescens'') is a species of goose native to North America. Both white and dark morphs exist, the latter often known as blue goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The species was previously placed ...
. In 2016, an elder and an Inuit youth from Pond Inlet joined Parks Canada's archaeologists to excavate one of the sod houses at the Thule site, known as Qaiqsut, in Bylot Island's Sirmilik National Park—one of Canada's most northerly parks. The site, which still has a handful of sod houses, had been used by the ancestors of Inuit for centuries, and had also been used by Scottish whalers 200 years ago. Mary River, with its fresh water lake, which is about south of Pond Inlet—where caribou graze in the summer season—was an annual meeting place for the semi-nomadic Inuit for hundreds of years. Pond Inlet Inuit have names for about 150 geographic features in the area immediately surrounding the hamlet that have been added to detailed maps in a collaboration between the Inuit Heritage Trust Incorporated (IHTI) and Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office (CNGO). The entrance to the open sea to the west of the hamlet is called Tursukattak Sound—"heading west from a narrow passage to a large opening" as it resembles the narrow entrance of an igloo. One of the place names refers to Captain James Bannerman, a Scottish whaler of the 1875
British Arctic Expedition The British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876, led by Sir George Strong Nares, was sent by the British Admiralty to attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound. Although the expedition failed to reach the North Pole, the coasts of Greenland a ...
, whose great-grandson is a resident of Pond Inlet.


Demographics

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 ...
, Pond Inlet had a population of 1,555 living in 365 of its 466 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,617. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Of the total population in 2016, about 49.4% were female and 50.6% male. There were 170 non-Inuit and 1,503 Inuit. Compared to the rest of Canada, Pond Inlet's population is "relatively young, with nearly 35% of the population under the age of 15." The "average age of residents is 20.8 years", compared to Nunavut at 23 years the general Canadian population at 39. According to the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, in 2013, 1,549 people—92% of them Inuit—lived in Pond Inlet. President J. Okalik Eegeesiak Pond Inlet's population in 2006 was 1,315 people; the entire region had about 2,600 people. By 2011, there were about 5,400 people living within a radius of the proposed Mary River mine site.


Wildlife

By 2011, many Inuit continued to live off the land in the Pond Inlet area. Wildlife in the region includes caribou, polar bears, foxes, ermines, lemmings, and hares. The coastal waters have walrus, seals, beluga, whales, and narwhals. A report on community histories, said that an important part of the traditional diet in Pond Inlet came from
ringed seal The ringed seal (''Pusa hispida'') is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light g ...
s. A 1982 article in the journal ''
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
'' based on 1979 studies of the Pond Inlet ice edge, observed the behaviours of Northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), thick billed murres (Uria lomvia), and black guillemots (Cepphus grylle), narwhals (Monodon monoceros), white whales (Delphinapterus leucas), arctic cod (Boreogadus saida), and ringed seals (Phoca hispida). Researchers found that both ringed seals and arctic cod preferred land fast ice and that the arctic cod that remained close to the undersurface of land fast ice, were larger and older than those offshore. The variety of wildlife so close to the hamlet is one of its tourist attractions.


Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization

Pond Inlet's Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization (MHTO) have been actively participating in discussions regarding Baffinland's Phase 2 Proposal for expansion of the Mary River project by submitting presentations to the Qikiqtani Inuit Association's (QIA). The Nunavut Impact Review Board was criticized for rushing through the process by limiting the number of questions each party could ask Baffinland. MHTO board member, elder and hunter Elijah Panipakoocho expressed frustration with the process. The MHTO and the Hamlet of Pond Inlet said that the NIRB process was not supporting Inuit interests. Panipakoocho said that now the caribou are gone, and the seal that they used to hunt in Milne Inlet during the fall freeze-up are no longer abundant. MHTO chairperson, Eric Ootoovak, said that "This project deserves and needs more work, and more attention, and that is what we bring to the table. More questions, not less, are absolutely necessary...Instead of developing more questions based on what we've heard, our technical advisor has spent two days trying to find ways to cut corners and limit our incredibly important questions." Milne Inlet, where Baffinalnd have their port, is a "small inlet" that "opens into Eclipse Sound, a primary summering area for Nunavut's largest population of narwhal. After years of negotiations, communities say they still haven't been given a clear picture of how the mine will impact Inuit land use and hunting rights for themselves and following generations."


Place name

To the Inuit, the place "is and always has been Mittimatalik." The hamlet shares its name with an arm of the sea that separates Bylot Island from Baffin Island. The place name for the body of water, an arm of the ocean that separates Baffin Island from Bylot Island to the north – Pond's Bay – was chosen by the explorer John Ross in 1818 in honour of the English astronomer
John Pond John Pond FRS (1767 – 7 September 1836) was a renowned English astronomer who became the sixth Astronomer Royal, serving from 1811 to 1835. Biography Pond was born in London and, although the year of his birth is known, the records indica ...
, at the time the sixth
Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post ...
. The hamlet shares that English name, Pond Inlet, used by the early Scottish whalers and traders, the ''Sikaatsi''. On 29 August 1921, when 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 ...
opened its trading post near an Inuit camp called Pond's Inlet, they named the HBC post, Pond Inlet, marking the expansion of its trading empire into the High Arctic.Scottish explorer John Ross (1777-1856) with naming the body of water and arm of the sea between Bylot Island and Baffin Island—Pond Inlet—in his failed exploratory 1818 expedition organized by the
British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
to find the Northwest passage. There was no hamlet until the trading companies arrived much later in the twentieth century. In an arctic whaling ship, the Ross produced a detailed map of the western coast of Greenland and the eastern coast of Baffin Island, naming dozens of capes, mountains, islands, and other geographical features after Scottish and English people and places. He named Pond Inlet after
John Pond John Pond FRS (1767 – 7 September 1836) was a renowned English astronomer who became the sixth Astronomer Royal, serving from 1811 to 1835. Biography Pond was born in London and, although the year of his birth is known, the records indica ...
, a leading
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
who was Astronomer Royal from 1811 to 1835. During this first expedition to find the Passage, Ross became confused by a
mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...
of apparent mountains, at what he thought was the end of
Lancaster Sound Lancaster Sound () is a body of water in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay ...
—a range he called "Croker Mountains"—and decided to turn back, much to the discouragement of Lieutenant
William Edward Parry Sir William Edward Parry (19 December 1790 – 8 July 1855) was an Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for his 1819–1820 expedition through the Parry Channel, probably the most successful in the long quest for the Northwest Pass ...
, who was the captain of the second ship in the 1818 expedition, the . Parry returned the next year and continued beyond the "Croker Hills" mountain mirage, and discovered the main axis of the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...
br>More
/ref>


Pond Inlet community histories

According to the 2013 Qikiqtani Truth Commission, the people of the region around Pond Inlet are known as ''Tununirmiut''—"people of the shaded place" or ''Mittimatalingmiut''—people of Mittimatalik." President J. Okalik Eegeesiak Archaeologists have identified the four thousand years of land use—hunting and fishing on land, sea, and ice—in the Pond Inlet area as pre-
Dorset people 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 N ...
,About five thousand years ago, the people the ITK refer to as th
Sivullirmiut
the first people—"travelled from the north coast of Alaska, east across Canada as far as southern Greenland" over a period of a thousand years., This movement east took place about 5000 years ago by a people we refer to as the Sivullirmiut which means the first people. In our legends these early people were often called Tunnit. Archaeologists use the terms
Pre-Dorset The Pre-Dorset is a loosely defined term for a Paleo-Eskimo culture or group of cultures that existed in the Eastern Canadian Arctic from c. 3200 to 850 cal BC, and preceded the Dorset culture. Due to its vast geographical expanse and to history ...
, Independence I,
Independence II culture Independence II was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that flourished in northern and northeastern Greenland from around 700 to 80 BC, north and south of the Independence Fjord. The Independence II culture existed in roughly the same areas of Greenland as t ...
s, and Dorset sub groups of
Paleo-Eskimo The Paleo-Eskimo (also pre-Thule or pre-Inuit) were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Chukotka (e.g., Chertov Ovrag) in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland prior to the arrival of the mode ...
to identify the Sivullirmiut. In less than a thousand years, groups of Sivullirmiut travelled from the north coast of Alaska, east across Canada as far as southern Greenland. In Canada, early Inuit settled as far east and south as the Strait of Belle Isle on the coast of Newfoundland. See more a
ITK 2016:5
/ref> Dorset,
Thule Thule ( grc-gre, Θούλη, Thoúlē; la, Thūlē) is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek and Latin literature, Roman literature and cartography. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shet ...
, and modern Inuit. Many Inuit in "present-day Pond Inlet are related to families in Igloolik". The Igloolik Inuit, are part of the Amitturmiut groups of Inuit—the historic Inuit groups that occupied the coast of northern
Foxe Basin Foxe Basin is a shallow oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, located between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula. For most of the year, it is blocked by sea ice (fast ice) and drift ice made up of multiple ice floes. ...
—encountered Scottish and British explorers searching for the Northwest Passage in the 1820s. The Amitturmiut Inuit were semi-nomadic travelled great distances on foot and by dogsled on traditional routes to follow the caribou and sea mammals, from hunting caribou to fishing spots. The settlement that was later named Pond Inlet "grew along a shoreline inhabited as long as any other part of Eclipse Sound—
Tasiujaq Tasiujaq ( iu, ᑕᓯᐅᔭᖅ, meaning: ''Which resembles a lake'') is a northern village (Inuit community) in Nunavik, in northern Quebec, Canada. Its population in the Canada 2021 Census was 420. Geography Tasiujaq was built on the sho ...
. Tasiujaq—which has several arms—is a natural Qikiqtaaluk region waterway through the Arctic Archipelago that separates Bylot Island from Baffin Island. Starting in 1903, Scottish entrepreneurs had set up a small whaling station at Igarjuaq. Other “Qallunaat” (non-Inuit) traders established trading establishments in the area. There was some contact with Inuit during the short annual whaling season. By 1903, the whaling industry was declining and the year-round station closed down. The area used by the Qallunaat traders at that time "extended 65 kilometres from Button Point on Bylot Island to Salmon River, which was near Mittimatalik. During the 1920s, the Hudson's Bay Company trading post, Anglican and Catholic mission stations, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police post were established. On 29 August 1921, when the Hudson's Bay Company opened its trading post near the Inuit camp, they named the HBC post, Pond Inlet, marking the expansion of its trading empire into the High Arctic. In 1922, the RCMP built a detachment at Pond Inlet. The Commission reported on community histories, explaining how an important part of the traditional diet in Pond Inlet came from
ringed seal The ringed seal (''Pusa hispida'') is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light g ...
s. The report also noted that preserved cultural objects provided archaeological evidence of a "rich material and intangible culture" in the area. Among these were two "superb" '' angakkuq'' (shamans) masks from Button Point, that had been carved c. 500-1000 AD and are now in the permanent collection of the
Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
. The '' angakkuq'' masks were originally collected by Guy Mary-Rousselière, a
French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...
anthropologist, missionary
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
, who spent 56 years in the Canadian Arctic including 36 years in Mittimatalik, from 1958 until his 23 April 1994 death there at the age of 81. ''(Article updated after death of Mary-Rousselière).'' Father Mary, as he was known, "died in a fire at the Catholic mission in Pond Inlet"—a "wise and somewhat eccentric elder of the church". In 1923, Nuqallaq, following Inuit customary law killed a fur trader Robert Janes, originally from Newfoundland, in the small hamlet of Pond Inlet following the hamlet's collective decision to sanction Janes for his dangerous behaviour. Janes had "reportedly threatened the Inuit and their valuable sled dogs". Nuqallaq was tried according to Canadian law and his wife's testimony in his defence was recorded by Father Mary-Rousselière. Nuqallaq was found guilty and sentenced to ten years of hard labour in the
Stony Mountain Penitentiary Stony Mountain Institution is a federal multi-security complex located in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood immediately adjacent to the community of Stony Mountain, Manitoba, about from Winnipeg. The Institution (medium-security) began opera ...
. In her 2002 non-fiction, ''Arctic Justice: On Trial for Murder, Pond Inlet, 1923'', Shelagh Grant said that the trial and sentence were motivated by "Canada's international political concerns for establishing sovereignty over the Arctic." In his 2017 non-fiction ''Thou Shalt Do No Murder: Inuit, Injustice, and the Canadian Arctic'', Kenn Harper said that the trial "marked a collision of two cultures with vastly different conceptions of justice and conflict resolution...It hastened the end of the Inuit traditional way of life and ushered in an era in which Inuit autonomy was supplanted by dependence on traders and police, and later missionaries". When the first hospital was built in 1962 in what is now Nunavut—the Baffin Regional Hospital—pregnant Inuit women were sent there to deliver their babies. In 1964, the
Cape Dorset Kinngait (Inuktitut meaning "high mountain" or "where the hills are"; Syllabics: ᑭᙵᐃᑦ), formerly known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin ...
art studio manager, Terrence Ryan, travelled to several communities in North Baffin, provided drawing materials, commissioned and collected drawings from local Inuit Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Arctic Bay and
Igloolik Igloolik ( Inuktitut syllabics: , ''Iglulik'', ) is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on th ...
, which resulted in a collection of approximately 1,860 sheets of drawings — drawn by 159 local residents. It was a time of "social, economic and spiritual upheaval" and the images recorded and reflected that experience in the northern hamlets. The drawings were digitized and published online by the
Agnes Etherington Art Centre The Agnes Etherington Art Centre is located in Kingston, Ontario, in the heart of the historic campus of Queen's University. Situated on traditional Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory, the gallery has received a number of awards for its exhib ...
.The 1964 drawings including many from Pond Inlet were published online based on three themes
Conveying Identities, On the Land, and Our Stories
/ref> Inuit youth from Pond Inlet were taken from their families and sent to the Churchill Vocational School in northern Manitoba, which operated from 9 September 1964 to 30 June 1973. The students were housed in hostels that were segregated based on the students' religious affiliation—Roman Catholic or Anglican. According to the final report of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC; french: Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada []) was a truth and reconciliation commission active in Canada from 2008 to 2015, organized by the parties of the Indian Reside ...
(2008 to 2015), organized by the parties of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the Churchill Vocational Centre in northern Manitoba, housed Inuit youth from Mittimatalik and about 16 other remote hamlets—all at that time still part of the Northwest Territories—Nunavut was created in 1999. Some of Churchill Vocational Centre students travelled "staggering" distances with some Inuit communities separated by as much as 2,200 kilometres. Over the years, the Churchill Vocational Centre had "provided academic and vocational training to about 1,000 to 1,200 Inuit youth". The September 2007 landmark compensation deal, the federal government-approved agreement amounted to nearly $2 billion in compensation to former students who had attended 130 schools. By 2008, different levels of government, including Tununiq MLA James Arvaluk and
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI; , ) is the legal representative of the Inuit of Nunavut for the purposes of native treaty rights and treaty negotiation. The presidents of NTI, Makivik Corporation, Nunatsiavut, and the Inuvialuit Regional Corp ...
, worked with some former Churchill residential school students, as the school records had not been properly maintained, and many former students were not able to receive adequate and fair compensation. While at Churchill, the young Inuit met other young people from different regions and they discussed common problems and considered political change. www.publichistory.ca The new organizations they founded upon returning to the Arctic, included the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITK) in the eastern Arctic in 1971. It was the ITK that initiated the 1973 Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project (ILUOP). The ILUOP "presented a detailed, comprehensive, and verifiable basis for the claim that Inuit used and occupied an area in excess of 2.8 million square kilometres at the time the ILUOP was completed in the Northwest Territories and northeast Yukon".
Hugh Brody Hugh Brody (born 1943) is a British anthropologist, writer, director and lecturer. Education In the 1950s he worked as an accountant in Sheffield before passing the entrance examinations for the University of Oxford. He studied at Trinity Coll ...
(1943-), who was an
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
, associated with the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
's Scott Polar Research Institute and a
Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...
at the
University of the Fraser Valley The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), formerly known as University College of the Fraser Valley and Fraser Valley College, is a Canadian public university with campuses in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Hope, British Columbia. Founde ...
in British Columbia. did extensive field work in Pond Inlet in the 1970s, as a research officer with the Northern Science Research Group.The peoples' champion
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
, profile, 27 January 2001.
In 1976–78 he coordinated the land use mapping in the North Baffin region for the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project and assembled accounts of Inuit perceptions of land occupancy across the Arctic which were included in the Project's final publications.See the three volume, Report of the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project, ed Milton Freeman, Ottawa: DIAND, 1976 By the 1970s, Inuit had gradually "moved, or been moved, from land-based hunting and trapping camps to new settlements", like Pond Inlet, that had been developed in the eastern Arctic, and over the years, attempts had been made by the federal government, to integrate Inuit into a "modern industrial economy". By the 1970s, the three main sections in Pond Inlet were the area around the cliff called Qaiqsuarjuk, the beach area known as Mittimatalik, and the upper hill area called Qaqqarmiut. By the 1970s, expectant mothers were sent to the Baffin Regional Hospital in Iqaluit to deliver their babies. In the 1990s, in response to one of the recommendations of the 1992
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was a Canadian royal commission established in 1991 with the aim of investigating the relationship between Indigenous peoples in Canada, the Government of Canada, and Canadian society as a whole. ...
, three generations of Pond Inlet women participated in a project with author and researcher Nancy Wachowich to record and publish their stories. Apphia Agalakti Awa was born on the land in the Eastern High Arctic in 1931, for four decades lived the semi-nomadic life style travelling "across tundra and sea ice, between hunting camps, fishing spots, and trading posts." Mandatory federal day schools opened in Pond Inlet in 1960 and for families that lived on the land, the government built hostels in Igloolik, where even young children—like 8-year old Rhoda Kaukjak Katsak—were housed. Sandra Pikujak Katsak, was born in the regional hospital in Iqaluit as Pond Inlet did not have the hospital facilities. She grew up in Pond Inlet. By the 2000s, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation through the Saluqat Committee's Mittimatalik Healing project in Pond Inlet were providing on-the-land healing camps where elders and residential school survivors addressed many issues related to the aftermath of the residential schools experience.


Mixed economy: wage-based and traditional subsistence

Pond Inlet's economy is mixed—including both traditional subsistence and wage-based activities. The wildlife economy, "including hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering...continues to play an important role in Pond Inlet and contributes to the foundation of Inuit culture and economy". As part of the decentralization process that was adopted by the new Nunavut government as a job creation strategy, Pond Inlet became the Qikiqtani regional centre for Nunavut's Department of Economic Development and Transportation. Growth sectors in Nunavut include arts and crafts and wildlife harvesting for future economic development. When Nunavut was established, its government adopted a decentralized strategy for job creation. As part of the decentralization process, Pond Inlet became the Qikiqtani regional centre for Nunavut's Department of Economic Development and Transportation. The government is now the largest employer in Pond Inlet. Growth sectors in Nunavut include small businesses, usually related to serving the community, tourism, arts and crafts and wildlife harvesting. Pond Inlet's economy is mixed with traditional subsistence activities and wage based economic activities. The wildlife economy, which includes "including hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering...continues to play an important role in Pond Inlet and contributes to the foundation of Inuit culture and economy". Employment areas include sales and service, social science, education, "government service and religion occupations, business finance and administration, trades, transport and equipment operators." Pond Inlet has a higher unemployment rates than most of Nunavut. When announcing lay-offs in November 2019, Baffinland said that 586 contract employees were affected, which included 96 Inuit.


Tourism

As a tourist destination, Pond Inlet is considered one of Canada's "Jewels of the North". It is one of the most picturesque communities with mountain ranges visible in all directions. Icebergs are most often accessible from the community within walking distance or a short snowmobile ride in winter. Pond Inlet boasts a nearby floe edge, several dozen glaciers, explorable ice caves, and many grand and picturesque inlets.
Barren-ground caribou The barren-ground caribou (''Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: Taxomony.) is a subspecies of the reindeer (or the caribou in North America) that is found in the Canadian territories of Nu ...
,
ringed seal The ringed seal (''Pusa hispida'') is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light g ...
, narwhals and
polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
s are just some of the wildlife that can be encountered while travelling out on the land. Nunavut also boasts one of Canada's newest national parks named after the glaciers that can be viewed north of the community on Bylot Island and Sirmilik National Park. By 1999, Pond Inlet was receiving about 1500 visitors from six to eight cruise ships with tours usually organized around the hamlet's newly built Nattinnak Visitor Centre and the Rebecca P. Idlout Public Library and archives. The Nattinnak Centre offers a variety of on-shore programs, which may include a walking tour of the hamlet, a visit to the Qilaukat Thule site near Salmon River, and/or a cultural performance—with a focus on the creation of Nunavut. Pond Inlet carvers, artists, performers, and others benefit from this "locally-generated economic activity." In 1996, the Rebecca P. Idlout library was moved to its current location in the building it shares with the Nattinnak centre. The building, which is on the waterfront, overlooks Eclipse Sound and Bylot Island. The library, which first opened in November 1988, was named after Idlout, who was a graduate of the Nunavut teacher education programme and was very involved in youth education in Nunavut.


Tununiq Sauniq Co-op

The Tununiq Sauniq Co-operative, a member of
Arctic Co-operatives Limited Arctic Co-operatives Limited is a cooperative federation owned and controlled by 32 community-based cooperative business enterprises located in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon and northern Manitoba, Canada. Arctic Co-ops coordinates resourc ...
, was incorporated in 1968. In Pond Inlet, businesses include a retail store, convenience store, hotel, fuel delivery, Yamaha snowmobile and ATV repair shop, cable television services and property rentals.Tununiq Sauniq Co-operative Limited
/ref> It serves the community by managing contracts and delivering goods and services to the citizens of Pond Inlet. Some of the services T.S. Co-op provides are: school bus services,
Canadian North Bradley Air Services, operating as Canadian North, is a wholly Inuit-owned airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Nunavik region ...
airline services, Qilaut heavy equipment rentals and services, construction contracts, T.V. cable services, a grocery and department store, Yamaha snowmobile and ATV repair shop, and others. It also has the largest hotel in the community, the Sauniq Inns North Hotel.


Inuit land use and occupation

The Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITK) initiated the 1973 Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project (ILUOP). The ILUOP "presented a detailed, comprehensive, and verifiable basis for the claim that Inuit used and occupied an area in excess of 2.8 million square kilometres at the time the ILUOP was completed in the Northwest Territories and northeast Yukon".
Hugh Brody Hugh Brody (born 1943) is a British anthropologist, writer, director and lecturer. Education In the 1950s he worked as an accountant in Sheffield before passing the entrance examinations for the University of Oxford. He studied at Trinity Coll ...
(1943-), who was an
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
, associated with the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
Scott Polar Research Institute and a
Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...
at the
University of the Fraser Valley The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), formerly known as University College of the Fraser Valley and Fraser Valley College, is a Canadian public university with campuses in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Hope, British Columbia. Founde ...
in British Columbia. did extensive field work in Pond Inlet in the 1970s, as a research officer with the Northern Science Research Group.The peoples' champion
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
, profile, 27 January 2001.
In 1976–78 he coordinated the land use mapping in the North Baffin region for the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project and assembled accounts of Inuit perceptions of land occupancy across the Arctic which were included in the Project's final publications. In the mid-1980s there were two "longitudinal surveys of local economic changes in Pond Inlet" undertaken and more data was gathered in 1997. At that time, job opportunities remained limited. There was some expectation for increased employment with the creation of the new Nunavut government. In Pond Inlet in 2006, the Mary River Inuit Knowledge Study (MRIKS) began with a series of workshops and interviews that were also undertaken in Arctic Bay, Clyde River, Hall Beach, and Igloolik from 2007 and 2010. MRIKS "included the mapping and illustration of travel routes; seasonal and permanent camps; waterbodies and sources of drinking water; harvesting areas for dietary stables – including caribou, sea mammals, waterfowl, berries and eggs; rock and mineral harvesting areas; non-mammal sea resources such as seaweed, clams, mussels and other fish; and sea ice use. Spiritual, archaeological and burial sites were also identified during this stage of assessment." p.121 MRIKS, which was informed by the 1976 ILAOP, asked participants about "Inuit use and understanding of the land, caribou, marine mammals, fish, birds and other land mammals." Participants were asked about the "names for the major land and water features and thirty-six key words were recorded. The study included Inuit Heritage Trust place names. The Qikiqtani Inuit Association had outstanding concerns about the interpretation of MRIKS data and impacts, and how traditional knowledge from MRIKS will be integrated into the Final Environmental Impact Statement. In June 2019, at a Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation's Mary River mine technical review meeting in Pond Inlet as part of the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) process, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association presented their study that they had compiled with residents of the nearest community to Mary River mine—Pond Inlet. Pond Inlet had raised concerns Baffinland contracted article that seemed to "reduce traditional knowledge or ''Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit'' (IQ) to static data". QIA conducted interviews with 35 Pond Inlet residents on "how they live their daily life, including where they hunt, fish and just enjoy the outdoors" and used
Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
mapping to "mark hunting routes, burial sites and other areas of importance to the community".


The creation of Nunavut

In 1976, the
nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC), now known as the
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, (Inuktitut syllabics: , meaning "Inuit are united in Canada") previously known as the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (Eskimo Brotherhood of Canada), is a nonprofit organization in Canada that represents over 65,000 Inuit acro ...
—the national voice for Canadian Inuit Communities, representing tens of thousands 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 ...
—submitted its first Inuit land claims proposal, calling for the creation of a new territory.Canada's Indigenous suicide crisis
/ref> In 1999, Nunavut was established through the creation of Nunavut Land Claims Agreement—the largest and most all-encompassing land claims and self-determination agreement in Canadian history.


Mega hydrocarbon and mineral development projects

The two large hydrocarbon and mineral development projects that were located close to Pond Inlet included the Panarctic's Nanisivik coal mine which operated from 1976 until 2002. and Baffinland Iron Mine Corporation's open-pit iron ore mine—the
Mary River Mine The Mary River Mine is an Open-pit mining, open pit Iron ore, iron ore mine on Inuit Owned Land (IOL) operated by the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (BIMC), in the Mary River (Nunavut), Mary River area of the Qikiqtaaluk Region, on Baffin Isla ...
has been operational since 2014 and is now seeking major expansion which includes a railway and a dramatic increase in shipping. In a 2000 article in the journal ''Arctic'', co-authors reported that " ny of the obstacles to development...identified in 1987 still persist"—"lack of infrastructure, insufficient local control of economic forces, and sometimes inappropriate development models". Much of the literature on northern development was "triggered" by potential mega-project hydrocarbon and mineral development where discussions focused on comparisons of the "relative merits of the new 'formal' economy and the traditional...informal economy". According to a 2013 '' Inuit Studies'' journal article based on archival records of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Department of Energy, Mines, and Resources, the decision-making process surrounding development in the eastern Arctic was flawed. The researchers examined the "relationship between Inuit as hunters and Inuit as wage earners" with reference to "contemporary mining development in Nunavut".


Panarctic's Nanisivik coal mine

In 1970, the federal government began the six-year long planning process for the Strathcona Sound mining project on the northern tip of Baffin Island. This resulted in the opening of the Panarctic's Nanisivik coal mine which operated from 1976 until 2002. Researchers investigated the 1970-1976 planning process behind the Strathcona Sound mining project on the northern tip of Baffin Island. Panarctic's Nanisivik mine operated from 1976 until 2002. The 2013 article said that the federal government and the Inuit themselves had different ideas of "what was good for them". To the federal government, Inuit were perceived as "labour in need of employment" and Inuit resisted this definition. A September 1974 editorial in the Pond Inlet community newsletter, questioned "Why has so little been told to the people of Pond Inlet concerning a mine that might affect their lives for the next thirteen years? Why have we not been informed of both sides of the picture?" The people of the other north Baffin Island communities affected by the Strathcona Sound mining project had been almost entirely excluded from discussions about the project. When Department of Indian and Northern Affairs representatives arrived on a January/February tour to "collect labour availability data" they had shared very little about the project with local communities. In 1974, Pond Inlet hamlet had "refused to deal with the DIAND representatives because of the inadequacy of the information provided." In his 1973
Arctic Institute of North America The Arctic Institute of North America is a multi-disciplinary research institute and educational organization located in the University of Calgary. It is mandated to study the North American and circumpolar Arctic in the areas of natural science, ...
article, Eric Gourdeau, discussed the social impact that Panarctic's wages had on Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay—Panarctic wages had "more than doubled the cash income gained by the regular wage workers in each community." Gibson noted that Gourdeau's report has been severely criticized by Hugh Brody, who was strongly against "recent trends" that push "native people increasingly towards the lowest and least certain rung on the national class ladder" by separating him "from his own means of production", leaving him "unable to have a sure relationship to the intruders' means of production." Brody was concerned that Inuit would become migrant workers or casual labourers. He said that the "problem will not be cleared away by promises of high pay at the golden frontier: short term booms that are so characteristic of frontier development only worsen the problems that will follow." Gourdeau was "generally favourable to the rotation option for native employment in Arctic resource extraction".


Baffinland Iron Mine Corporation's Mary River Mine

In 2014, after years of negotiations, the Baffinland Iron Mine Corporation opened its open-pit iron ore mine—the Mary River mine—with Pond Inlet as the nearest community. In 2011, the Luxembourg-based
ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...
SA—the largest steel maker in the world—and an American hedge fund,WW Mines Inc., a private investment firm formerly known as Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc. had jointly purchased the Baffinland Iron Mine Corporation. Their plans included a proposed northern railway that would carry the iron ore to tidewater. The mine has been the source of much debate over cultural and environmental issues. Nunavut communities had serious concerns about the mine's proposed expansion and were engaged in protests and public hearings. In a 2021 letter to the Nunavut Impact Review Board, the mayor of Pond Inlet, Joshua Arreak, said that the hamlet would not support the phase two project unless Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation agreed to slow down their increase in production to yearly increments of 1.5 million tonnes per year." In Baffinland's 2019 annual report, Pond Inlet reported that in 2018 there were 49 people employed by Baffinland in Pond Inlet and the number was decreasing. Concerns were raised for hunters - the lack of animals was noticeable. There were concerns about sound pollution and ships in summer affecting wildlife as there are fewer seals and narwhals. It was also noted that QIA received the royalties not the affected communities. Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation's open-pit mine—located south-southwest of Pond Inlet—
Mary River Mine The Mary River Mine is an Open-pit mining, open pit Iron ore, iron ore mine on Inuit Owned Land (IOL) operated by the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (BIMC), in the Mary River (Nunavut), Mary River area of the Qikiqtaaluk Region, on Baffin Isla ...
—has attracted international attention for its planned phase two expansion, that would see a dramatic increase in shipping from its
Milne Inlet Milne Inlet () is a small, shallow arm of Eclipse Sound which, along with Navy Board Inlet, separates Bylot Island from Baffin Island in Nunavut's Qikiqtaaluk Region. Milne Inlet flows in a southerly direction from Navy Board Inlet at the c ...
port in Eclipse Sound, near Pond Inlet, through a narwhal habitat in the waters near Greenland. Milne Inlet is a "small inlet" that "opens into Eclipse Sound, a primary summering area for Nunavut's largest population of narwhal". Ships from Baffinland's port in Milne Inlet will have to enter and exit Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area—a national marine conservation area. In a 2021 letter to the Nunavut Impact Review Board, the mayor of Pond Inlet, Joshua Arreak, said that the hamlet would not support the phase two project unless Baffinland agreed to slow down their increase in production to yearly increments of 1.5 million tonnes per year." In Baffinland's 2019 annual report, Pond Inlet reported that in 2018 there were 49 people employed by Baffinland in Pond Inlet and the number was decreasing. Baffinland had built a tote road to carry truckloads of iron ore from Mary River Mine to Milne Inlet instead of the special cold-weather railway and a new port Steensby Inlet planned in 2011 and proposed in 2008. With a global decrease in the price of iron ore, Baffinland said that the railway and Steensby Inlet port was too expensive an option at that time. Phase 2 would include the railway. The two weeks of Nunavut Impact Review Board environmental hearings regarding the Mary River Mine ended on 6 February. By 6 February peaceful protesters from Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay were blockading the airstrip and trucking road at Mary River Mine.{ They are concerned that expansion would result in an "increase the number of ore carriers that visit during the ice free season". The expansion would double output from 6 to 12 million tonnes a year and would include a railway. It would increase shipping through its port at Milne Inlet and impact a crucial habitat for narwhal in the Canadian Arctic. Elder and hunter Elijah Panipakoocho, who is a Pond Inlet's Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization board member, "participated in early wildlife research" undertaken before the mine opened in 2014. Panipakoocho said that they had tried to make the mining company "understand how the wildlife exist and how they would be affected, the caribou and the narwhal...We worked hard, based on the Inuit way and the southern way of doing things." He said that now the caribou are gone, and the seal that they used to hunt in Milne Inlet during the fall freeze-up are no longer abundant.


Geological Survey

In 2017 and 2018, researchers from the
Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...
and the Département des sciences de la Terre et de l’atmosphère, at the
Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Qué ...
conducted extensive fieldwork for the "bedrock mapping for the GEM-2 North Baffin project" in the area around Pond Inlet and part of Sirmilik National Park which is situated on Bylot Island, as well as in the area bordering Steensby Inlet and the Barnes Ice Cap, including included the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation's Mary River iron mine.


Environmental concerns

Ships from Baffinland's Mary River mine project now enter and exit the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area, a national marine conservation area. The iron ore ships leave Baffinland's Milne Inlet port, a small inlet that opens in Eclipse Sound then to Baffin Bay. The Kingdom of Denmark, concerned by the environmental impacts of the next phase of Baffinland's Mary River mine on nearby Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, has been included by the Canadian government in the Nunavut Impact Review BoardThe Nunavut Impact Review Board
(NIRB) was created by the Nunavut Agreement (NA) to undertake assessments of proposed development in the Nunavut Settlement Area, make proposals, and monitor projects. NIRB uses both traditional knowledge or ''Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit'' (IQ) and "recognized scientific methods" to assesses the "potential biophysical and socio-economic impact of proposals".
assessment process for the planned expansion. The iron ore shipping lanes, which go through a narwhal habitat, will threaten this population which is just beginning to return after a hundred years. An added environmental concern is the dust from the tote road. Pond Inlet residents are concerned that the water and the food chain will be contaminated with trace metals. An added concern is that the water and the food chain will be contaminated with trace metals. Baffinland had built a tote road to carry truckloads of iron ore from Mary River Mine to Milne Inlet instead of the special cold-weather railway and a new port Steensby Inlet planned in 2011 and proposed in 2008. With a global decrease in the price of iron ore, Baffinland said that the railway and Steensby Inlet port was too expensive an option. The bulk carrier '' Federal Tiber'' departed from Milne Inlet on 8 August 2015, with the first shipment of ore from the mine. In 2021, Baffinland said that the "railway and a new indoor crushing facility will decrease dust." In 1991, the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) began monitoring the levels of contaminants in wildlife species that continued to be an important part of the traditional diet of Inuit, such as beluga, ringed seals, and arctic char. Their third assessment focused on
persistent organic pollutants Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), sometimes known as "forever chemicals", are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. They are toxic chemicals that adversel ...
(POP)s. In Pond Inlet a specific focus was placed on sea run Arctic char. On 4 February 2021, as the two-week long scheduled Nunavut Impact Review Board review on the Baffinland expansion was nearing its end, eight hunters from Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay, set up a peaceful blockade at Mary River project's tote road and airstrip. The communities of Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay are nearest the mine site. The hunters feel their wildlife economy is threatened—protesting the expansion and the review process itself. The protesters have formed a line of snowmobiles, their gear-laden wooden sleds, and their tent. The hunters are asking other protesters to not destroy Baffinland's equipment. Dozens of Baffinland's Inuit employees are being paid to stay home to avoid bringing COVID-19 into the small communities. The vast majority of mine workers are non-Inuit who are flown into the work camps.


Transportation

Pond Inlet is most readily accessible by aircraft through a connection in
Iqaluit Iqaluit ( ; , ; ) is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on which the city is situated. In 1987, its t ...
, Nunavut's capital to Pond Inlet Airport. The ocean is ice free for as long as three and a half months when tourist cruise ships visit and goods can be transported to the community by
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 ...
cargo carrying ships. Fresh foods such as fruits, vegetables and milk are flown from
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
to Pond Inlet several times a week, a distance of about . Because of such great distances the cost of food and other materials such as construction supplies can be much higher than that of southern Canada. Milk is approximately $3.75/L, and carbonated drinks can be as much as $4.50/can. Although the community is not more than long, snowmobiles and ATV four-wheelers are the main modes of transportation. With the
decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...
of the Nunavut government and increased economic opportunities in the community, the number of vehicles has been increasing.


Education

Ulaajuk Elementary School and Nasivvik High School together teach kindergarten through grade 12 to approximately 450 students.
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 ...
hosts a variety of programs for adult learners. Pond Inlet is also the headquarters of the Qikiqtani School Operations which runs schools throughout the Qikiqtaaluk Region. Nunavut uses the Alberta curriculum, which may not be appropriate for high schools in Nunavut.


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

Pond Inlet has a polar arctic climate ( ET) with long cold winters and short cool summers. Pond Inlet's average high for the year is while the average low for the year is . The daily mean for the coldest month, February, is . The daily mean for the warmest month, July, is . The record high for Pond Inlet is on 11 July 1991. The record low for Pond Inlet is on 12 February 1979.


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 ...
*
Sheila Burnford Sheila Philip Cochrane Burnford née Every (11 May 1918 – 20 April 1984) was a Scottish writer. She is best known for her novel The Incredible Journey about two dogs and a cat traveling through the Canadian wilderness. Life and work Born in ...
* Jobie Nutarak * Elisapee Ootoova * Katharine Scherman


Notes


References


Further reading

* Finley, K. J., and Elizabeth J. Gibb. ''Summer Diet of the Narwhal (Monodon Monoceros) in Pond Inlet, Northern Baffin Island''. Toronto: LGL Limited for Petro-Canada Exploration Inc., Calgary, 1982. * Grant, Shelagh D. ''Arctic Justice On Trial for Murder, Pond Inlet, 1923''. McGill-Queen's native and northern series, 33. Montréal, QC: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002. * Grigsby, Michael. ''Eskimos of Pond Inlet''. reat Britain Granada TV, 1975. * Jackson, G. D., A. Davidson, and W. C. Morgan. ''Geology of the Pond Inlet Map-Area, Baffin Island, District of Franklin''. Paper (Geological Survey of Canada), 74–25. Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada, Dept. of Energy, Mines and Resources, 1975. * MacFarlane, I. C. ''The Effects of Deformation on the Structure of Sea Ice, Pond Inlet, N.W.T. A Contract Report''. St. John's, Nfld: Centre for Cold Ocean Resources Engineering, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1983. * Nashook, Elijah. ''Pond Inlet Airstrip Extension Correspondence between Elijah Nashook, Mayor of the Hamlet of Pond Inlet and the Government of the Northwest Territories''. Yellowknife?, N.W.T.: Government of the Northwest Territories?, 1987. * Northwest Territories. ''Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik)''. Northwest Territories data sheets. 1986. * Pond Inlet Education Council, and Baffin Divisional Board of Education. ''Nanuit Miksaanut''. qaluit, N.W.T. Pond Inlet Education Council, 1980. * Remote Community Demonstration Program (Canada), and Peter J. Poole. ''A Study to Determine Off-Oil Options for Pond Inlet, N.W.T., with Special Emphasis on the Prospects for Developing Coal Reserves''. Ottawa: The Program, 1983. * Romer, Mark. ''Pond Inlet Gardens A Report on the Design and Operation of a Solar Greenhouse on North Baffin Island, NWT, with Particular Reference to Economic Viability of Vegetable Production for Arctic Regions''. Outremont, Qué: Romer, 1987. * Soberman, D. A. ''Report to the Canadian Human Rights Commission on the Complaints of the Relocated from Inukjuak and Pond Inlet, to Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay in 1953 and 1955''. S.l: s.n.], 1991.


External links


Official site



Sirmilik National Park

Pond Inlet at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association

Pond Inlet at the official Nunavut Tourism Office
{{Authority control Hamlets in the Qikiqtaaluk Region Hudson's Bay Company trading posts in Nunavut Inlets of Baffin Island Populated places in Arctic Canada Road-inaccessible communities of Nunavut