Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut

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Bathhurst Inlet, (Inuinnaqtun: "Qingaun" or "Qingaut", Inuktitut: ᑭᖓᐅᓐ), is a small Inuit community located in Bathurst Inlet in the Kitikmeot Region of Canada's Nunavut Territory. As of the 2006 census the population was 0 as opposed to 5 people in the 2001 census. [ [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=6208065&Geo2=PR&Code2=62&Data=Count&SearchText=Bathurst%20Inlet&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=&GeoCode=6208065 2006 census] ]

The Inuit name for the community is "Kingaun" (old orthography) or "Qingaut" (new orthography), meaning "nose mountain", which refers to a hill close to the community. Thus, the people of the area are referred to as "Kingaunmiut" ("miut" - people of).

The traditional language of the area was Inuinnaqtun and is written using the Latin alphabet rather than the syllabics of the Inuktitut writing system. Like Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay and Umingmaktok syllabics are rarely seen and used mainly by the Government of Nunavut.

The first Europeans known to have visited the area was during the first expedition of John Franklin in 1821. There was little outside contact until 1936 when both the Roman Catholic church and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) arrived. Although, the Hudson's Bay Company abandoned the site in 1964 (for Umingmaktok) the Inuit decided to remain in the area and continue the traditional lifestyle.

During the early 1960s, the area was visited by Glen Warner, a Sergeant with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Warner, along with his wife Trish, purchased both the mission house and the HBC post which they turned into the "Bathurst Inlet Lodge". It is operated today as a joint venture between the Warner's and the local Inuit and is open during the short Arctic summer.

The lodge is a popular destination for tourists who wish to see a more traditional type Inuit lifestyle and wildlife such as foxes, seals, Barren-ground caribou, arctic char and muskox. Also in the area is the Wilberforce Falls, the highest waterfall above the Arctic Circle.

Like other communities in Nunavut, the only access is by aircraft. Although most tourists arrive from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, it is possible to charter an aircraft from Cambridge Bay. The community has no local phone service and contact with the outside world is maintained by satellite phone.

Like its sister community Umingmaktok, schooling is provided by flying the students to Cambridge Bay and returning them for Christmas and the summer.

References

*Nunavut Handbook - Lyn Hancock
* [http://langcom.nu.ca/languages/dialectmap-web.pdf Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut - PDF Dialect Map]
* [http://langcom.nu.ca/languages/en_writing.html Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut - Writing systems]

ee also

*List of communities in Nunavut

Further reading

* Bathurst Caribou Management Planning Committee. "A Management Plan for the Bathurst Caribou Herd". [N.W.T.] : Bathurst Caribou Management Planning Committee, 2005.
* Bird, John Brian. "Bathurst Inlet, Northwest Territories". [Ottawa] : Geographical Branch, Mines and Technical Surveys, 1961.
* Cody, William J. "New Plant Records from Bathurst Inlet, N.W.T". S.l: s.n, 1954.
* Gunn, A., and Adrian D'Hont. "Extent of Calving for the Bathurst and Ahiak Caribou Herds, June 2002". Yellowknife, NWT: Dept. of Resources, Wildlife & Economic Development, Govt. of the Northwest Territories, 2002.
* Kerr, Daniel K. 1996. "Late Quaternary Sea Level History in the Paulatuk to Bathurst Inlet Area, Northwest Territories". "Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences". 33, no. 3: 389.
* Kingsley, Michael. "A Literature Survey of the Wildlife of Bathurst Inlet, Northwest Territories". Edmonton, Alta: Canadian Wildlife Service, 1979.
* McEwen, Eoin H. 1957. "Birds Observed at Bathurst Inlet, Northwest Territories". "Canadian Field-Naturalist". 71, no. 3: 109-115.
* Relf, Carolyn Diane. "Report on Lapidary Occurrences in the Bathurst Inlet Area, N.W.T". Yellowknife: NWT Geology Division - NAP, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 1993.
* Thorpe, N. L. 1997. "The Tuktu and Nogak Project: Inuit Knowledge About Caribou and Calving Areas in the Bathurst Inlet Region". "Arctic". 50, no. 4: 381.
* Thorpe, Natasha, Sandra Eyegetok, and Naikak Hakongak. "Thunder on the Tundra Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit of the Bathurst Caribou". [Ikaluktuuthak, NU] : Tuktu and Nogak Project, 2001. ISBN 0968963609
* Zoltai, S. C., D. J. Karasiuk, and G. W. Scotter. "A Natural Resource Survey of the Bathurst Inlet Area, Northwest Territories". Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1980.

External links

* [http://www.bathurstinletlodge.com/ Bathurst Inlet Lodge]
* [http://www.gov.nu.ca/Nunavut/English/about/BATHURST.PDF Government of Nunavut]
* [http://airphotos.nrcan.gc.ca/photos101/bathurst_inlet_e.php Naural Resources Canada - Historical photos]