The Husky Lakes are a system of

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

basins 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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Formerly known as the Eskimo Lakes, they are called ''Imaryuk'' in

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 ...

, the language of the Inuvialuit, the original inhabitants of the area. The Husky Lakes form a chain of five basins draining toward the northeast and roughly coinciding with the Eskimo Lakes fault zone, which runs along a southwest–northeast axis through the region. The two lower basins are bracketed on either side by inundated tunnel valleys lying between "fingers" (narrow

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

s) of land. Through the eastern "finger" region (''Singiit'' in Inuvialuktun), the lakes empty into Liverpool Bay, an arm of the

Beaufort Sea The Beaufort Sea (; french: Mer de Beaufort, Iñupiaq: ''Taġiuq'') is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska, and west of Canada's Arctic islands. The sea is named after Sir Fr ...

. Sitidgi Lake, a freshwater lake south of the Husky Lakes, drains into the southernmost basin through a shallow channel called Sitidgi Creek. Together the basins cover an area of and

drain Drain may refer to: Objects and processes * Drain (plumbing), a fixture that provides an exit-point for waste water or for water that is to be re-circulated on the side of a road * Drain (surgery), a tube used to remove pus or other fluids from ...

an area of . They average in depth with maximum depths not exceeding . The Husky Lakes lie north of the tree line and vegetation in the area is that of typical Arctic

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

. At Saunaktuk ("place of bones"), a site in the western "finger" area, remains of at least 35 Inuvialuit women, elderly and children were found dating to the 14th or 15th century. The remains exhibited signs of violence and possibly cannibalism, and are consistent with Inuvialuit oral histories describing a Dene attack at that site. Today the area around the Husky Lakes remains culturally and economically important to the Inuvialuit of Tuktoyaktuk 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 ...

. In the spring, fishing for lake trout, lake whitefish,

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

and

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

is a major traditional source of food for the Inuvialuit. Bear, goose and duck are also hunted in the spring, but caribou hunting has recently been banned. Access to the area is more difficult in the summer after spring thaw, but this is likely to change after the opening of the extension of the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk, which passes near the western side of the southern lakes. Berry picking (

cloudberry ''Rubus chamaemorus'' is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae, native to cool temperate regions, alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest. This herbaceous perennial produces amber-colored edible fruit similar to the blackbe ...

crowberry ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, or, in western Alaska, blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually dioecious, but there ...

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

, cranberry) and ptarmigan hunting are popular activities in the fall, and trapping is practiced from late fall through early spring. Cabins have been built around the lakes and there is an

outfitter An outfitter is a shop or person that sells specialized clothes (an ''outfit'' is a set of clothing). More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. In North ...

lodge at Saunaktuk.

References

{{authority control Lakes of the Northwest Territories Geography of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region Estuaries of Canada