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Igloolik

Coordinates: 69°22′34″N 081°47′58″W / 69.37611°N 81.79944°W / 69.37611; -81.79944 (Igloolik)
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Igloolik
ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ
Iglulik Template:Location map polarx
Hamlet
Hall Beach 1997
Hall Beach 1997
Country Canada
Territory Nunavut
RegionQikiqtaaluk Region
Electoral districtAmittuq
Government
[1][2]
 • MayorLucassie Ivalu
 • MLALouis Tapardjuk
Area
[3]
 • Total102.87 km2 (39.72 sq mi)
Elevation
[4]
53 m (174 ft)
Population
 (2006)[3]
 • Total1,538
 • Density15/km2 (39/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Canadian Postal code
X0A 0L0
Area code867

Igloolik, (Syllabics: ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ, sometimes spelled Iglulik), is an Inuit hamlet, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because it is on a small island in Foxe Basin that is very close to the Melville Peninsula (and to a lesser degree, Baffin Island), it is often thought to be on the peninsula. The name "Igloolik" means "there is an igloo here" (from iglu meaning house or building and refers to the sod houses that were originally in the area[5]) in Inuktitut[6] and the residents are called Iglulingmiut (~miut - "people of"). The mayor of Igloolik is Paul Quassa.

History

Information about the area’s earliest inhabitants comes mainly from numerous archeological sites on the island; some dating back more than 4,000 years. First contact with Europeans came when British Navy ships HMS Fury and HMS Hecla, under the command of Captain William Edward Parry, wintered in Igloolik in 1822.

The island was visited in 1867 and 1868 by the American explorer Charles Francis Hall in his search for survivors of the lost Franklin Expedition. In 1913, Alfred Tremblay, a French-Canadian prospector with Captain Joseph Bernier’s expedition to Pond Inlet, extended his mineral exploration overland to Igloolik, and in 1921 a member of Knud Rasmussen's Fifth Thule Expedition visited the island. It is now known as a city where many people died during the attack on the lighthouse

The first permanent presence by southerners in Igloolik came with the establishment of a Roman Catholic Mission in the 1930s. By the end of the decade, the Hudson's Bay Company had also set up a post on the island.

Non-indigenous establishments, such as RCMP stations, day schools, and clinics, were here before they came to be in surrounding communities. The Igloolik Research Centre focuses on documenting Inuit traditional knowledge and technology, as well as climatology and seismic data research.[7]

Culture

Traditional amautiit made from seal (left) and caribou (right) are occasionally worn by infant mothers, although fabric versions are more common today

Anthropologically, Iglulik Inuit are usually considered to be the Iglulingmiut, the Aivilingmiut[8], and the Tununirmiut, those Inuit Inupiaq-speakers on northern Baffin Island, on Southampton Island, and in the Melville Peninsula.[9]

An ancient legend from the Igloolik area was adapted by Zacharias Kunuk into the award-winning Canadian film Atanarjuat in 2001. In 2004, Isuma produced the film The Journals of Knud Rasmussen which was released in September 2006 after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Igloolik is also the home-base of the only Inuit circus, Artcirq. This collective is active in video-making, music production and live circus show performances. Early in 2008, when temperatures in Igloolik were at −50 °C (−58 °F), eight members of Artcirq went to Essakane north of Timbuktu, Mali, where temperatures were 40 °C (104 °F), to perform at the Festival au Désert.[10][11]

In late 2007, the Igloolik HTO (Hunter and Trappers Organization) banned all forms of tourism (sport hunting, filming, photography, watching) related to the northern Foxe Basin walrus population for a period of two years. This ban was in response to an observed decrease in walrus. The Igloolik Inuit continue to harvest walrus while the tourism ban is in place.

Demographics

As of the 2006 census, the population was 1,538, an increase of 19.6% from the 2001 census.[3]

The growth of the Iglulingmiut Population:

  • 146 (1822)
  • 485 (1963)
  • 680 (1967)
  • 867 (1972)
  • 1,174 (1996)
  • 1,286 (2001)
  • 1,538 (2006)
  • 1,720 (2009) estimate based on 3.8% increase growth-rate statistic. Non-inuit population ~ 84
  • Part of the town, August 2002
    Part of the town, August 2002
  • After the sun has gone below the horizon
    After the sun has gone below the horizon
  • The Igloolik Return of the Sun festival
    The Igloolik Return of the Sun festival
  • The old stone church, August 2002, prior to being torn down in 2006
    The old stone church, August 2002, prior to being torn down in 2006
  • The Igloolik Research Centre
    The Igloolik Research Centre
  • Women carry their children in amautiit while walking to Northern Store, past Isuma productions (left) and the Coop hotel (right)
    Women carry their children in amautiit while walking to Northern Store, past Isuma productions (left) and the Coop hotel (right)
  • Tummivut Iglu - The Nunavut government building in Igloolik
    Tummivut Iglu - The Nunavut government building in Igloolik
  • Remnants of older Inuit sod houses in Igloolik Point
    Remnants of older Inuit sod houses in Igloolik Point

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Igloolik.

References

  1. ^ Hamlets elect new councils
  2. ^ Election Results - 2008 General Election
  3. ^ a b c 2006 census
  4. ^ Elevation at airport. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
  5. ^ Igloolik, Nunavut
  6. ^ Igloolik at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association
  7. ^ "Igloolik, NU". Alias:Arctic Logistics Information and Support. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  8. ^ "Clothing, footwear and territory of the Caribou Inuit". aaanativearts.com. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  9. ^ "Iglulik Inuit". everyculture.com. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  10. ^ Hottest ticket in Malian capital involves the Inuit
  11. ^ Artcirq

Further reading

  • Allen, Kristiann. Negotiating Health The Meanings and Implications of Building a Healthy Community in Igloolik, Nunavut. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2002. ISBN 0612641244
  • Aporta, Claudio. Old Routes, New Trails Contemporary Inuit Travel and Orienting in Igloolik, Nunavut. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2004. ISBN 0612879305
  • Dredge, L. A. The Geology of the Igloolik Island Area, and Sea Level Changes. Yellowknife, N.W.T.: Science Institute of the Northwest Territories, 1992.
  • Ford, James D., Barry Smit, Johanna Wandel, and John MacDonald. 2006. "Vulnerability to Climate Change in Igloolik, Nunavut: What We Can Learn from the Past and Present". Polar Record. 42, no. 2: 127-138.
  • Leontowich, Kent. A Study of the Benthic Faunal Distribution in the Subtidal Zone of Turton Bay, Igloolik Island, Nunavut. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2005. ISBN 061292856X
  • Niwranski, K., P. G. Kevan, and A. Fjellberg. 2002. "Effects of Vehicle Disturbance and Soil Compaction on Arctic Collembolan Abundance and Diversity on Igloolik Island, Nunavut, Canada". European Journal of Soil Biology. 38, no. 2: 193-196.
  • Wachowich, Nancy. Making a Living, Making a Life Subsistence and the Re-Enactment of Iglulingmiut Cultural Practices. Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 2001. ISBN 0612611914

69°22′34″N 081°47′58″W / 69.37611°N 81.79944°W / 69.37611; -81.79944 (Igloolik)

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