Sentry Island ( Arvia'juaq) is one of several

Canadian arctic islands The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark). Situated in the northern extremity of No ...

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 within western

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

. The closest community is

Arviat Arviat (, syllabics: ᐊᕐᕕᐊᑦ; formerly called Eskimo Point until 1 June 1989) is a predominantly Inuit hamlet located on the western shore of Hudson Bay in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. Arviat ("place of the bowhead whale") is ...

, to the west. The island forms part of the

Arvia'juaq and Qikiqtaarjuk National Historic Site The Arvia'juaq and Qikiqtaarjuk National Historic Site contains two areas: ''Arvia'Juaq'' and ''Qikiqtaaruk''. Arvia'juaq (Sentry Island ), an island in Hudson Bay, is located close to Arviat, Nunavut. It is a National Historic Site of Canada an ...

and a

Paallirmiut Caribou Inuit ( iu, Kivallirmiut/ᑭᕙᓪᓕᕐᒥᐅᑦ), barren-ground caribou hunters, are Inuit who live west of Hudson Bay in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W in Northern Canada. They were originally na ...

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 ...

summer camp site. Sentry Island is a popular place for fishing and hunting.

History

The island served as a rest stop for Henry Hudson and his crew during his ill-fated journeys to find the Northwest Passage in 1610 - 1611. On July 3, 2018, a man from Arviat was killed in a rare

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 ...

attack on the island. The man was on the island with his children when the polar bear approached them and attacked, killing 31-year-old Aaron Gibbons. The bear was killed by two others who were living in the area.

References

Islands of Hudson Bay Uninhabited islands of Kivalliq Region {{KivalliqNU-geo-stub