Guide to Nunavut

Nunavut is a territory in northern Canada which contains Canada's northernmost lands. With only 37,000 inhabitants, Nunavut covers a land area larger than Mexico, divided between mainland North America and an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

As of 2016, almost 85% of the people are part of an indigenous group called the Inuit. They used to be called Eskimos, but this word is no longer used in Canada, and is considered offensive by some. The singular form of "Inuit" is "Inuk" ("he is Inuk" vs "they are Inuit").

Nunavut doesn't have "cities" in the sense that southerners would recognize, just small towns.

The Inuktitut name is in italics.

• Iqaluit — capital and largest settlement of Nunavut
• Arviat – Nunavut's third largest settlement
• Pangnirtung (Pangniqtuuq) — gateway to the Auyuittuq National Park
• Resolute (Qausuittuq) — on Cornwallis Island, close to where Sir John Franklin's lost expedition spent their first winter
• Igloolik (Inuktitut: ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ Iglulik)— the home-base of the only Inuit circus, Artcirq
• Rankin Inlet (Kangiqliniq) — an air transport hub, and gateway to Iqalugaarjuup Nunanga Territorial Park
• Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq) — Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, intent on traversing the Northwest Passage, anchored the Gjoa here for nearly two years. Today, more than 1000 Netsilik Inuit call it home.
• Cambridge Bay - nowadays, it's the largest stop for passenger and research vessels traversing the Arctic Ocean's Northwest Passage.

• Alert — the world's northernmost settlement, on Ellesmere Island
• Ellef Ringnes Island — the land nearest the geomagnetic north pole, which used to pass through the island
• Devon Island (Inuktitut: Tatlurutit) — the world's largest deserted island... with a cemetery, the northernmost in the world
• Four Corners — the remote meeting point of the borders of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
• Qikertaaluk Island – home to one of the best preserved Inuit rock art

National parks

• Auyuittuq National Park — its name means "the land that never melts", and it includes many terrains of the Arctic wilderness, such as fjords, glaciers, and ice fields
• Qausuittuq National Park — covers 2/3 of Bathurst Island, and protects an important Peary caribou habitat
• Quttinirpaaq National Park — protecting a huge area of polar desert on Ellesmere Island, accessible by charter tours, the launching point for trekking to the North Pole
• Sirmilik National Park — the "place of glaciers" consists of three parcels on Baffin Island
• Ukkusiksalik National Park — a park with more than 400 documented archaeological sites, near Repulse Bay on the mainland of Nunavut

Nunavut means our land in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. The official languages are English, French, Inuktitut, and Innuinaqtun.

It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in the world. The immense territory includes most of Canada's Arctic Islands, from Baffin Island in the territory's southeast, where the capital Iqaluit is located, to Ellesmere Island a few hundred kilometres from the North Pole. The territory also includes all of the islands in Hudson Bay.

History

The region which is now mainland Nunavut was first populated approximately 4500 years ago by the Pre-Dorset, a diverse Paleo-Eskimo culture that migrated eastward from the Bering Strait region. The Pre-Dorset culture was succeeded by the Dorset culture about 2800 years ago. The Dorset culture has been assumed to have developed from the Pre-Dorset; however, the relationship between the two remains unclear.

Helluland, a location Norse explorers describe visiting in the Sagas of Icelanders, has been connected to Nunavut's Baffin Island.

The Thule people, ancestors of the modern Inuit, began migrating into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut from Alaska in the 11th century. By 1300, the geographic extent of Thule settlement included most of modern Nunavut. The migration of the Thule people coincides with the decline of the Dorset, who died out between 800 and 1500.

The written historical accounts of the area begin in 1576, with an account by English explorer Martin Frobisher. While leading an expedition to find the Northwest Passage, Frobisher thought he had discovered gold ore around the body of water now known as Frobisher Bay on the coast of Baffin Island. The ore turned out to be worthless, but Frobisher made the first recorded European contact with the Inuit.

Until the end of World War II, when the Canadian government began to realize its strategic importance, the Canadian far north was seen as a barren and desolate place, inhabited by Indigenous peoples and containing vast mineral resources that had (and have) yet to be exploited.

Cornwallis and Ellesmere Islands featured in the history of the Cold War in the 1950s. Concerned about the area's strategic geopolitical position, the federal government relocated Inuit from Nunavik (northern Quebec) to Resolute and Grise Fiord. In the unfamiliar and hostile conditions, they faced starvation, but were forced to stay.

Discussions on dividing the Northwest Territories along ethnic lines began in the 1950s, in order to give the Inuit people a degree of self-government. In 1982, after much debate and argument, it was decided to divide the Northwest Territories into two parts, one called Nunavut and the other retaining the name "Northwest Territories". On April 1, 1999, Nunavut came into existence.

Climate

Nunavut experiences a polar climate in most regions, owing to its high latitude and lower continental summertime influence than areas to the west. In more southerly continental areas very cold subarctic climates can be found, due to July being slightly milder than the required 10 °C (50 °F).

Tourist information

• Destination Nunavut website

Around 65% of people living in Nunavut speak Inuktitut as a first language, and the language is co-official with English and French in the territory. Inuktitut is the traditional language spoken by the Inuit people, and is very closely related to Greenlandic. It is a somewhat hard language to learn for the English speaker, and most English speaking people won’t even be able to read it because it is written in its own unique script. Though most Inuit will probably speak English, it would be a good idea to learn a few key phrases or bring an Inuktitut phrasebook along. Learning the script in any case is relatively easy to do. French may sometimes also be useful, though most of the time, not necessary. However, in some more remote places, Inuktitut may be necessary. Public signage is generally bilingual in Inuktitut and English but rarely in French.

Access is only by air: there is no road or rail from the south or west. Every settlement has at least a landing strip.

Iqaluit Airport hosts scheduled passenger services from Ottawa, Montreal, Rankin Inlet, and smaller communities throughout eastern Nunavut. Flights from Yellowknife and Winnipeg go through Rankin Inlet.

Exploring Nunavut by cruise ship is a popular, but expensive option. Adventure Canada, Quark Expeditions, and EYOS Expeditions do cruises to the territory.

In the smaller communities (less than 3,000), ATVs and trucks are used during the short summer (when there is no snow).

In the winter, snowmobiles are the main way of getting around. Dog sleds are also used but owning and maintaining a dog team can be a very costly endeavour. Getting to and from the different communities can only be done by air; there are no roads linking the different population centres in the territory.

The capital, Iqaluit, has a few buildings of interest: the territorial legislature, a museum, and an igloo-shaped Anglican Church.

The Aurora Borealis can be easily seen from October to March in the centre of the community, but by taking a walk out of the town, they can be more spectacular. Inuit people have many legends about the auroras, which can be heard by talking to people in Rankin.

The midnight sun adds a magical element to travel in the Arctic. Winter is the time of darkness, but in summer, daylight lasts almost 24 hours in the more northerly communities.

In Gjoa Haven, you can explore sights associated with the Sir John Franklin's 1845 lost expedition and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. 100 km east of Resolute, you can visit Beechey Island, the Franklin expedition's first wintering location.

Artcirq is an Inuit circus performance collective based in Igloolik. It blends techniques of modern circus arts such as acrobatics, juggling, and clowning with traditional Inuit cultural practices including Inuit traditional games, throat singing, and drum dancing to create meaningful and original work through performing arts, music, and video.

Guided excursions around the island and Arctic expeditions further afield organized by outfitters (there are several in Iqaluit) are the principal way of seeing Nunavut's truly great outdoors. Summer activities include trekking, and boat and fishing tours in Frobisher Bay. In the winter months, dog-sledding journeys are an excellent way to get out and explore the landscape.

Marine wildlife watching is particularly good in Resolute Bay: pods of beluga and narwhal can be seen from the beach as they head to their summer feeding grounds.

A walk five minutes outside a community like Rankin Inlet will give you the opportunity to see terrain which appears untouched by humans. Spring and summer brings wildlife like squirrels, which are everywhere, chattering incessantly from their perches, as do peregrine falcons and gyrfalcons. Keep a watchful eye on the area to see loons, geese, swans and cranes, which will keep photographers busy.

Ovayuk Territorial Park, east of Cambridge Bay, has 20 km of trails, camping areas and interpretive signage. Iqalugaarjuup Nunanga Territorial Park, near Rankin Inlet, includes the archaeological site of Thule.

In April, Rankin Inlet celebrates Pakallak Time with a sled race, snowmobile races, and igloo building.

Traditional crafts and carvings are the items to look out for. The Uqqurmiut Centre is an Inuit arts facility in Pangnirtung that sells local products.

Note that you may need to apply for a wildlife export permit for carrying animal products outside of Nunavut even if your final destination is in the rest of Canada. The permit is free and can be obtained from a Department of Environment office in most communities. Animal products that need a permit are:

• Legally killed game
• Antlers or skulls
• A gift of meat from a hunter
• Untanned furs and raw hides
• Polar bear hides
• Narwhal tusks

Some towns may offer small restaurants or coffee shops.

Try some traditional Inuit food, such as raw seal meat. For many Inuit, hunting is still the primary way of acquiring food, so many northern foods can be bought from local fishers or hunters and cooked. Arctic char has been a staple food for thousands of years. It is a sustainable fish related to salmon and trout that is valued for its delicate taste, striking colour, and health benefits. Caribou meat is also eaten.

The main grocers are Co-op and Northern, a common grocery for Nunavut. Because most food is shipped in on planes, be prepared to pay extraordinarily high prices for perishables, such as milk, fruit, and vegetables.

During the short summer, foraging for wild plants such as mountain sorrel, snow-bed willow, Labrador tea, lamb's quarter, violet and shepherd's purse has been an important supplement to the Inuit diet. Local berries include cranberries, cloudberries, blueberries, gooseberries and crowberries.

In Nunavut, any food that the land provides is called "country food": caribou, Arctic char, salmon, musk ox, seal, whale, seafood (fish, clams and mussels), Arctic hare and ptarmigan. Country food is often accompanied by imported sauces, such as soy sauce, or traditional sauces made from caribou or seal.

In many places in Nunavut there is a local law prohibiting all alcohol. Given the high rates of addiction and suicide in many places, communities have felt the need to adopt this extreme position. Do not bring any alcohol into an officially dry community, as you can exacerbate the local problems with alcohol abuse and even cause a person's death. When flying into those dry communities, local RCMP police may meet the flight and inspect every passenger's luggage to make sure that you're not smuggling any alcohol.

In other communities, local bars are permitted to operate. There are no local liquor stores outside Iqaluit; a warehouse in each of Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit will ship hard liquor outside the community but this must be ordered in advance.

As with food, accommodation is very expensive in Nunavut. Expect to pay premium prices for fairly basic accommodation. For example, a B&B in Iqaluit, the largest town, starts at $260 a night (Apr 2025).

Wireless network services are now available at towns and hamlets. Qiniq and Bell Mobility are the service providers. Despite government subsidies, rates are somewhat higher than elsewhere in Canada due to high maintenance costs associated with the cold weather and the small customer base to distribute the cost. Satellite phones are a better choice if you're outside of these settlements.

The cold weather and dangerous animals articles have advice which will be relevant to many travellers in the Arctic.

There is no 9-1-1 emergency number in Nunavut. Use the local seven-digit numbers to reach individual emergency services in each community.

The Inuit people have always been at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the Canadian population. The disadvantage can also be seen in wealth, life expectancy, health, etc., and it's best to avoid bringing up these controversies.