Salluit ( iu, ᓴᓪᓗᐃᑦ, "the thin ones") is the second northernmost

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 Quebec, Canada, located on Sugluk Inlet close to the

Hudson Strait Hudson Strait (french: Détroit d'Hudson) links the Atlantic Ocean and Labrador Sea to Hudson Bay in Canada. This strait lies between Baffin Island and Nunavik, with its eastern entrance marked by Cape Chidley in Newfoundland and Labrador and ...

and was formerly known as Sugluk. Its population was 1,483 in the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census ...

and the

population centre In demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to different geogr ...

had 1,075 people. It is not accessible by road, but by air through

Salluit Airport Salluit Airport is located near the community of Salluit, Quebec, Canada. There are no roads into Salluit, so the airport provides the only means for the residents to access southern Quebec. Scheduled service is provided by Air Inuit using Twin ...

. Salluit means "The Thin Ones" in

Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

, referring to a time when local inhabitants were facing starvation as a result of a lack of wildlife.

History

In 1925, an independent trader opened a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

on the site of present-day Salluit. Not to be outdone, 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 ...

(HBC) quickly established its own post on the far shore of Sugluk Inlet but relocated it soon after to Deception Bay, about to the east. In 1930, the HBC built a store at present-day Salluit and closed its post at Deception Bay in 1932. The golden years of

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

came to an end around 1936 when the price of pelts collapsed. In 1930 a Catholic mission was established, closing some twenty years later, but followed by an Anglican mission in 1955. The Government of Canada opened a day school in 1957. As more public services were being delivered, Inuit settled around the small village. The first residential houses were built in 1959 and ten years later a co-operative store was established by its residents. Salluit legally became a municipality in 1979. Since 1996, the police services in Salluit are provided by the

Kativik Regional Police Force The Nunavik Police Service (NPS; french: Service de police du Nunavik, iu, ᓄᓇᕕᒻᒥ ᐳᓖᓰᑦ ᐱᒍᑦᔨᔨᖏᑦ) delivers regular policing services in the 14 remote northern villages of the Kativik Region. The headquarters of the N ...

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population 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 sli ...

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 ...

, Salluit had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Education

The

Kativik School Board The Kativik School Board (KSB; french: Commission scolaire Kativik, iu, ᑲᑎᕕᒃ ᐃᓕᓴᕐᓂᓕᕆᓂᖅ Kativik Ilisarniliriniq) is a school district with territory in Nunavik in northern Quebec; it has an office in the Saint-Laurent ar ...

operates two schools in Salluit. The first is Pigiurvik School, which is the primary school. The second is Ikusik School, which is the secondary school. Students attend Pigiurvik from Grade 1 to Grade 5, before attending Ikusik for Grade 6 to Secondary V.

Notable residents

Elisapie Isaac Elisapie Isaac (also known simply as Elisapie; syllabics: ) is a Canadian Inuk musician, broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, and activist. She spent her childhood in Salluit, Nunavik, Quebec, and moved to Montreal in 1999 to pursue communicat ...

, pop singer *

Lucy Qinnuayuak Lucy Qinnuayuak (1915–1982) was an Inuit graphic artist and printmaker. Biography Qinnuayuak was born in or near Salluit, Quebec in 1915. At an early age her family moved to Baffin Island, where they settled in Cape Dorset. She was married to ...

, artist, born in Salluit *

Lissie Saggiak Lissie Saggiak, also known as Lizzie Saggiak, (1924-1989) was an Inuit artist. Saggiak was born in Salluit, Quebec. She is known for her drawings and sculptures. Her work is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnip ...

, artist *

Sugluk (band) Sugluk (variously styled Sugluc, SUGLUC, or the Sugluk Group) were a Canadian rock band based in northern Quebec. Led by singer George Kakayuk and guitarist Tayara Papigatuk, the group toured extensively through the 1970s and 1980s, and recorded ...

, rock group * Maggie MacDonnell, teacher, awarded the "

Global Teacher Prize The Global Teacher Prize is an annual US$1 million award by the Varkey Foundation to a teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession.Brain, Rondinelli"Now There's A Davos Of Education And A $1 Million 'Nobel Prize' For Teacher ...

" of the

Varkey Foundation The Varkey Foundation, initially the Varkey GEMS Foundation, is a global charitable foundation focused on improving the standards of education for underprivileged children. It was formed in 2010 by Indian businessman Sunny Varkey, the founder and ...

2017.Merlin John,
"Top teacher fights for Canada's indigenous people"
Business, BBC News, 26 July 2017.

References

External links