Reindeer Station (known as in the

Inuvialuktun Inuvialuktun (part of ''Western Canadian Inuit/Inuktitut/Inuktut/Inuktun'') comprises several Inuit language varieties spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by Canadian Inuit who call themselves ''Inuvialuit''. Some dialects and sub-dialec ...

language) is an uninhabited locality in 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. ...

, Canada. It is located in the Caribou Hills, along the Mackenzie River's eastern channel. The community was established in 1932 to house a herd of 3,442 reindeer purchased by the Government of Canada. The venture was intended to replace the traditional livelihood of the local

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, but few chose to become

reindeer herders Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

, so the government eventually sold the animals and Reindeer Station was abandoned in 1969. Most of its residential buildings were relocated to the larger centres of

Tuktoyaktuk Tuktoyaktuk , or ''Tuktuyaaqtuuq'' (Inuvialuktun: ''it looks like a caribou''), is an Inuvialuit hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, at the northern terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway.Montgomery, ...

and

Inuvik Inuvik (''place of man'') is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Region, it serves as its administrative and service cen ...

History

Reindeer Station - Settlement along Mackenzie River - Viewed from Cessna 172 - Between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk - Northwest Territories - Canada

In the early 1920s, the Government of Canada received reports that the wild caribou herds of the Western Arctic were in steep decline. This would have placed the local

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 Alask ...

in danger of starvation. A similar event in 1890s

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

led the United States Government to purchase a large herd of

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

from Europe, introducing Native Alaskans to Old World animal husbandry practices. This

Alaska Reindeer Service Alaska Reindeer Service (ARS) was established for the benefit of the U.S. territory of Alaska by Congressional action on March 3, 1893. The ARS was an integral part of the educational system of northern and western Alaska. The superintendent of ...

, headquartered at the

Teller Reindeer Station Teller Reindeer Station was located near Teller in the U.S. state of Alaska. The idea of transporting domestic reindeer from Siberia to western Alaska was first suggested by Captain Michael A. Healy, an officer in the United States Revenue Cutter ...

, proved to be a modest success. In 1926, the Canadians decided to duplicate the program, hiring Danish botanist

Erling Porsild Alf Erling Porsild (1901–1977) was a Danish-Canadian botanist. Biography He was born in Copenhagen as a son of the botanist M.P. Porsild. He grew up on the Arctic Station in Qeqertarsuaq, West Greenland, where he acted as assistant to his fa ...

to choose a suitable nucleus for the Canadian reindeer industry. By 1928, he had identified Mackenzie Delta as having the greatest potential, and the construction of Reindeer Station began. The next year, the federal government entered into a $225,000 contract with American "reindeer king"

Carl J. Lomen Carl Joys Lomen (July 13, 1880 – August 16, 1965) was an American entrepreneur and photographer. He was known as ''The Reindeer King'' of Alaska, because of his role in "organizing, promoting, marketing, and lobbying for the reindeer R ...

to deliver 3,000 reindeer to the Canadian Arctic. The drive covered a distance of from Lomen's headquarters in

Nome, Alaska Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...

, and a team of Norwegian

Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Rus ...

herders were hired to drive the herd. Government officials expected the drive to be completed by 1931, but it was beset by accidents almost immediately. While the herd was still being assembled, its corral was destroyed by a storm in November 1929. Two stampedes occurred in July 1931 and March 1933, greatly delaying the journey. American and Canadian newspapers often reported on the delayed drive, and the party's Sámi leader, Andrew Bahr, was nicknamed "The Arctic Moses". By June 1934, the herd reached the ice-covered Mackenzie Delta, but a storm triggered a third stampede, causing the animals to bolt back to the western shore. Warm summer conditions meant that another crossing could not be attempted until the next year. On March 6, 1935, the herd was successfully corralled at Reindeer Station. Of the 3,000 animals specified in the contract, 2,382 arrived, but only 20 per cent of the herd was found to have originated in Alaska. The drive was so delayed that the rest were born along the way. At its peak, Reindeer Station was a self-sufficient community with a population of about 90 people, mainly herders and their families. Amenities included a post office, school, church, generating plant, and

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

trading post. Originally, the reindeer program was intended to replace the traditional lifestyle of the Inuvialuit. A three-year apprenticeship program would produce self-sufficient reindeer herders, each responsible for their own herd and territory. However, this difficult and lonely career did not prove popular, especially as it provided a lower income than hunting 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 ...

. From 1935 to the mid-1950s, only seven independent herds were established. The program was finally extinguished by new postwar developments in the Arctic. For those Inuvialuit willing to consider non-traditional wage labour, the construction of the

DEW Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Proj ...

and the new town of

provided much higher incomes. The federal government sold the reindeer herd in 1960, and it remains privately owned today. While most historic buildings have been removed from Reindeer Station, the

Inuvialuit Regional Corporation 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 homeland ...

continues to conduct traditional camps and workshops at the site. Modern uses are limited by landslide risk. Filmmaker

Peter Lynch Peter Lynch (born January 19, 1944) is an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. As the manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990, Lynch averaged a 29.2% annual return, consistently more than ...

profiled the project in the 1998 documentary film '' The Herd''.Tom McSorley, "The Herd: Peter Lynch and the secret history of Canada". '' Take One'', Fall 1998.

References

{{Communities of Northwest Territories Former populated places in the Inuvik Region Reindeer