Ivujivik ( , meaning "Place where ice accumulates because of strong currents", or "Sea-ice crash Area") is a northern village (

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

community) in

Nunavik Nunavik (; ; ) is an area in Canada which comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, part of the Nord-du-Québec region and nearly coterminous with Kativik. Covering a land area of north of the 55th parallel, it is the homelan ...

, Quebec, and the northernmost settlement in any Canadian province, although there are settlements further north in the territories. Its population in the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, 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%, whic ...

was 412. Policing for Ivujivik is provided by the Kativik Regional Police Force.

Geography

Ivujivik is located in the

region of the province, some north of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. It is only south-west from Cape Wolstenholme, the northernmost tip of the Ungava Peninsula, which is in turn the northernmost part of the

Labrador Peninsula The Labrador Peninsula, also called Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, is a large peninsula in eastern Canada. It is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, the Hudson Strait to the north, the Labrador Sea to the east, Strait of Belle Isle and the Gulf of ...

. It is near Digges Sound, where

Hudson Strait Hudson Strait () in Nunavut links the Atlantic Ocean and the 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 Nunavut ...

meets

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

. The municipal boundaries include an area of . The area is ice-free for 20 working days a year in the summer. There are no road links to the North American road system, nor is this (or any other) Nunavik community linked by road to any of the other villages in the region. The village is served by Ivujivik Airport. The village itself is located on a small sandy cove between imposing cliffs that drop steeply into Digges Sound. Here the strong currents from Hudson Bay and the Hudson Strait clash, sometimes even crushing trapped animals between the ice floes. Directly north across the sound are West and East Digges Islands. Farther north in the Hudson Strait are

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

and Salisbury Islands.

History

Archaeological dating estimates nearly 3000 years since the arrival in the area of

Thule People The Thule ( , ) or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by 1000 AD and expanded eastward across northern Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the ...

, ancestors of today's

, from Baffin Island. This place would have been the starting point of Inuit migration into Quebec, explaining the presence of the Inuit along the coast of Hudson Bay. On nearby Digges Island was the spot of the first encounter between Europeans and the Inuit of Nunavik. This occurred in 1610 on

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

's last mission. The

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

established a trading post on Erik Cove near Cape Wolstenholme in 1909. A Catholic mission was established on the village's current site in 1938. But both locations only remained seasonal camps. In 1947, the HBC post at Erik Cove closed and a new outpost was set up in Ivujivik. This marked the beginning of the modern village as nomadic Inuit finally began to settle permanently. Not until the 1960s did the Government of Canada begin to deliver health and social services. In 1962, the Inuit established a cooperative that has allowed the community to better structure its local economy and develop new activities such as sculpture, crafts, and tourism focusing on hunting and fishing. Ivujivik, along with Puvirnituq, was one of two Inuit villages that refused to sign the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. In protest, it formed the Inuuqatigiit Tunngavingat Nunamini (ITN) movement. Nonetheless, it was gradually represented by the

Kativik Regional Government The Kativik Regional Government (, ARK) is the representative regional authority for most of the Nunavik region of Quebec. Nunavik is the northern half of the Nord-du-Québec administrative region and includes all the territory north of the 55 ...

, and it officially joined the agreement in 2015.

2006 bear attack

In February 2006, the Ivujivik resident Lydia Angiyou saved her seven-year-old son and two of his friends from a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

attack outside the local youth centre by placing herself between the bear and the children. A local hunter, Sirqualuk Ainalik, heard the noise, ran over, and saved her by shooting the bear as it attacked. It is thought that she may have benefited from a phenomenon known as hysterical strength in fighting with the bear. The presence of a polar bear in a populated area is an unusual occurrence. Angiyou was awarded the Medal of Bravery by the

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

for her actions.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Ivujivik 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. In 2001, 285 of the 298 (about 96%) persons were considered aboriginal. As with many

villages, there is a large youth contingent. In 2006, 42.9% of the population was below the age of fifteen. The median age was 19.1. In 2001, unemployment was at 18.2 percent. The median income for the same census was $14,624 (in Canadian dollars.) 72 percent of the workforce walked or biked to work.

Education

The Kativik School Board operates the Nuvviti School.Our Schools
." Kativik School Board. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.

References

External links

Kativik Regional GovernmentNunavik tourismCensus Information
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311020304/http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01/CP01/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=2499140&Geo2=PR&Code2=24&Data=Count&SearchText=Ivujivik&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom= , date=2007-03-11 Inuit communities in Quebec Populated coastal places in Canada Road-inaccessible communities of Quebec