Kangiqsualujjuaq ( ; ; ) is an

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 ...

village located at the mouth of the George River on the east coast of

Ungava Bay Ungava Bay (; , ; /) is a bay in Nunavut, Canada separating Nunavik (far northern Quebec) from Baffin Island. Although not geographically apparent, it is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. The bay is roughly oval-shaped, about at its widest p ...

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 Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. Its population was 956 as of the 2021 census. The settlement's original name, Fort Severight, honoured John Severight, a

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

man who had headed Fort Coulonge during McLean's time there. After its re-establishment, it was variously known from its location as Fort George, George's River, George River, George River Post, and Fort George River. It was also sometimes known as ( French for "Port New Quebec"). The name "Kangiqsualujjuaq" () is

Inuktitut Inuktitut ( ; , Inuktitut syllabics, syllabics ), also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of ...

for "the very large bay". It is also sometimes spelled "Kangirsualujjuaq" ().

History

John McLean John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and United States Supreme Courts. He was often discu ...

established Fort Severight for 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 ...

in 1838. It was a bit south of the present-day town, at (now marked as ''Illutaliviniq'' on

topographic maps In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

). It served as a

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

and

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

fishery, supplying Fort Chimo to the west and Fort Trial and

Fort Nascopie A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

to the south. It was abandoned in 1842. after Fort Chimo turned out to be an unprofitable station and a path was found to supply Nascopie from Fort Smith to the southeast. The Inuit of the area never settled around the post, preferring to live along the coast in summer and setting their camps about inland in winter. The site was taken up again in September 1876, mostly to capture the local indigenous peoples' trade which had been going to the

Moravians Moravians ( or Colloquialism, colloquially , outdated ) are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech language, Czech or Czech language#Common Czech, Common ...

. The new buildings were built from the old. The site was abandoned again in the summer of 1878 before reopening again in 1883. It again functioned as a salmon and seal fishery for Fort Chimo, although it carried on some local trading until that was removed to Port Burwell in 1917. HBC shuttered its office in June 1952. In 1959, local Inuit established, on their own initiative, the first co-operative in Northern

for the purpose of marketing

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic realm, Holarctic. Distribution and habitat It Spaw ...

. Construction of the village began in 1962 and Inuit began to settle there permanently. In 1963 a school, a co-operative store, and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

buildings were built. In 1980, Kangiqsualujjuaq was legally established as a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. The

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

was struck by an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

in the early morning of January 1, 1999, which destroyed the Satuumavik School gymnasium during New Year celebrations, killing nine. Another 25 people were injured, 12 of them seriously enough to have to be airlifted to

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 ...

for treatment. Some speculated that it may have been triggered by lively dancing at the party. The school was rebuilt on the new, safer location and renamed to Ulluriaq School.

Geography

Kangiqsualujjuaq is located to the northeast of

. Enveloped by mountains, the township is framed by picturesque surroundings and its elevated position affords unobstructed views of the George River. The town itself is laid out on a grid pattern over levelled-ground, with two unsealed roads leading a few kilometres beyond the mountain ridges at either end of the village. Amidst rocky outcrops and stone way-finding markers ( Inukshuk), the village landscape is dotted with stands of stunted trees and prostrate groundcover that clings perilously to the rugged

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

terrain. In low-lying areas, the ground is covered by thick carpets of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

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; ), 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 ...

, Kangiqsualujjuaq 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.>

Economy

Industries in Kangiqsualujjuaq include

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

and beluga whale,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, and the production of Inuit art. The town is also the main terminus of the George River

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

expeditions (e.g. one of Chewonki Foundation's canoe trips).

Government

The police services are provided by the

Kativik Regional Police Force The Nunavik Police Service (NPS; , ) delivers regular policing services in the 14 remote northern villages of the Kativik Region. The headquarters of the NPS are in Kuujjuaq, and detachments operate in each community. The service was formerly cal ...

. The

Kativik School Board The Kativik School Board (KSB; , Kativik Ilisarniliriniq) is a school district with territory in Nunavik in northern Quebec; it has an office in the Saint-Laurent area of Montreal and one in Kuujjuaq. While most Quebec school boards are categor ...

formerly operated the Ulluriaq School, previously the Satuumavik School.

Infrastructure

The town is served by the small Kangiqsualujjuaq Airport. Access is usually by plane, although Kangiqsualujjuamiut occasionally travel to

Kuujjuaq Kuujjuaq (; or ), formerly known as (ᓲᐃᕙᐅᖃᔾ) and by #Names, other names, is a former Hudson's Bay Company outpost at the mouth of the Koksoak River on Ungava Bay that has become the largest northern village (Quebec), northern vil ...

in winter by

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

and in summer by boat, a journey of approximately to the southwest. Journeys across the

Torngat Mountains The Torngat Mountains are a mountain range on the Labrador Peninsula at the northern tip of Newfoundland and Labrador and eastern Quebec. They are part of the Arctic Cordillera. The mountains form a peninsula that separates Ungava Bay from the ...

by snowmobile to the

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

settlements Nain and Nachvak are rarely embarked upon these days, but were commonplace when dog teams were used.

Cargo ships A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usual ...

from Becancour deliver cumbersome supplies and equipment to the community every summer.

Notable people

* Mary Simon (Ningiukadluk), 30th

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

* Donat Savoie Inuit elders from Kangiqsualujjuaq include: * Noah Angnatuk * George Annanack * Johnny Sam Annanack * Maggie Annanack (Elsie Imaq) * Sarah Annanack * Willie Emudluk * Tivi Etok * Willie Etok * Benjamin Jararuse Explorers and missionaries who have visited the town include: * Mina Benson Hubbard * George Kmoch * Benjamin Gottlieb Kohlmeister *

Albert Peter Low Albert Peter Low (May 24, 1861 – October 9, 1942) was a Canadian geologist, explorer and athlete. His explorations of 1893–1895 were important in declaring Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic, and eventually defining the border between Quebe ...

Images

Image:2941 LK Kangiqsualujjuaq at night.jpg, Kangiqsualujjuaq at night Image:3088 LK Kangiqsualujjuaq hike.jpg, Inukshuk Image:3070 LK Kangiqsualujjuaq hockey rink.jpg, Kangiqsualujjuaq hockey rink

References

External links

{{Commons category
Kativik Regional GovernmentNunavik tourism - Kangiqsualujjuaq websiteKangiqsualujjuaq, Quebec
Statistics Canada
Ulluriaq School, Kangiqsualujjuaq''Inuit Knowledge and Perceptions of the Land-Water Interface''
a comprehensive study of the Kangiqsualujjuaq people and their knowledge and perceptions of their homelands by Scott Heyes (2007)
Schooling the North
Populated coastal places in Canada Inuit communities in Quebec Road-inaccessible communities of Quebec Hudson's Bay Company trading posts