Repulse Bay, Nunavut

Repulse Bay Naujaat ᓇᐅᔮᑦ
Repulse Bay in October
Repulse Bay
Coordinates: 66°31′19″N 086°14′06″W / 66.52194°N 86.235°W / 66.52194; -86.235Coordinates: 66°31′19″N 086°14′06″W / 66.52194°N 86.235°W / 66.52194; -86.235
Country	Canada
Territory	Nunavut
Region	Kivalliq Region
Electoral district	Akulliq
Government[1][2]
– Type	Hamlet Council
– Mayor	Hugh Haqpi[3]
– MLA	John Ningark
Area[4]
– Total	423.74 km2 (163.6 sq mi)
Elevation[5]	24 m (79 ft)
Population (2006)[4]
– Total	748
– Density	1.8/km2 (4.6/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-6)
– Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-5)
Canadian Postal code	X0C 0H0
Area code(s)	867

Repulse Bay (Inuktitut: Naujaat ᓇᐅᔮᑦ literally “seagulls’ nesting place”) is an Inuit hamlet located on the shore of Hudson Bay, Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut, Canada.

Location and wildlife

Arctic Circle arch

The hamlet is located exactly on the Arctic Circle, on the north shore of Repulse Bay and on the south shore of the Rae Isthmus. Transport to the community is provided primarily by air and by an annual sealift. Naujaat is home to a wide variety of animals including polar bears, caribou, seals, whales, and walrus. There are also approximately one hundred species of birds in the area, including gyrfalcons and peregrine falcons.

History

Naujaat is translated into English variously as "seagull fledgling," "seagull resting place" or "seagulls' nesting place," named after a cliff five kilometres to the north, where seagulls, migrating from the south each June, make their nests. Naujaat was first visited by Europeans in the 1740s, and by the late 1800s it became a popular whaling ground for American and Scottish whalers. Many Naujaat Inuit residents worked on board these whaling vessels from the south. Although there are various theories as to the origin of the English name "Repulse Bay," many attribute the name to Christopher Middleton, who when searching for the Northwest Passage in 1742 discovered that the bay was not a route out of Hudson Bay, but rather a cul-de-sac. He is claimed to have called it the “Bay of Repulse, the bay where I was pushed away”. Others believe that the name comes from an eighteenth-century English vessel named "Repulse"^{[disambiguation needed ]} which visited the area. The Hudson's Bay Company opened a post in Repulse Bay about 1916 and in 1923 a rival fur trading company, Revillon Freres, opened a post. A Roman Catholic Mission was built in 1932. Naujaat was formerly part of the District of Keewatin and the Keewatin Region; in 1999 the area became part of the Kivalliq Region.

Revillon Frères post, Repulse Bay, 1926.

Naujaat (Repulse Bay) today

As of the 2006 census, the population was 748, an increase of 22.2% from the 2001 census.^[4] The Naujaat community continues to rely on traditional sealing, fishing, hunting, trapping, and carving for their livelihood, together with tourism. Naujaat is known for its Inuit artists, especially carvers (typically creating small realist animal sculptures of ivory, soapstone, marble and antler), as well as jewellery and crafts. Its people are the 'Aivilingmiut'.

See also

• Jack Anawak
• Peter Irniq
• Jose Kusugak
• Michael Kusugak
• Steve Mapsalak
• Repulse Bay Airport
• Ukkusiksalik National Park

References

1. ^ Hamlets elect new councils
2. ^ Election Results - 2008 General Election
3. ^ Election results
4. ^ ^{a b c} 2006 census
5. ^ Elevation at airport. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 20 October 2011 to 0901Z 15 December 2011

• inuitarteskimoart.com [1]
• thecanadianencyclopedia.com [2]
• planetware.com [3]
• atlas.nrcan.gc.ca [4]
• arcticco-op.com [5]
• repulsebayhotel.com [6]
• gov.nu.ca/Nunavut [7]
• arcticomi.ca [8]
• bbs.keyhole.com [9]

External links

• "CONDUCTING A TRADING POST FARTHEST NORTH - A LIFE THAT GETS INTO THE BLOOD OF A MAN" - May 18, 1924 New Bedford Sunday Standard article on the Repulse Bay HBC post in the early 1920s.