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Canada’s new Arctic Territory, once considered a no-man’s land or tundra, is home to the Inuit people. Nunavut, which means “our land,” in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit, has a population of about 27,000, with an Inuit population of about 23,000.
Nunavut is far from being a wasteland. It is a place of considerable natural beauty with an abundance of wildlife. The short summers are filled with color, as the beauty of fireweed, arctic heather and rhododendron explode under the 24 hour sunshine. July and August are the summer months, with average temperatures of 50 F.
The Inuit people, formerly known as Eskimo’s, have been in Nunavut for thousands of years. When their ancestors arrived in Nunavut, there were already some occupants there, whom they called Tuniit. So those early Inuit inhabitants adapted and survived in the frozen environment of the arctic for thousands of years as hunters and gatherers. The first Europeans arrived in Nunavut around 1500 AD.
Nunavut is a frozen and white land for at least half of the year. The winters, long, dark and cold, are a heaven for sky watchers. Here the stars and the northern lights are so close you truly feel as though you can touch them. Grise Ford, which lies the northernmost of Nunavut, has a population of about 130 people and is about 2,700 miles from Ottawa. Grise Ford has 24 hours of daylight in June, and around-the-clock darkness in December! The largest community in Nunavut is Iqualit with a population of 3,600. Forty-five percent of the land area lies on the northern part of the mainland, the rest distributed among hundreds of islands.
Visits to Nunavut are by air travel, with scheduled jet services from southern Canadian cities to points in Nunavut. The only stretch of road is a 21 kilometer one between Arctic Bay and Nanisivik. There are no roads between the various communities, so don’t plan on too much driving while in Nunavut. There are taxi services which are like buses, picking up passengers along the way. Snowmobile rentals are also available, but communities are easily covered by walking.
You can stay in first class hotels, once you get there, or in an igloo, if you’d like to experience a real taste of life in an igloo. If you should stay in an igloo, you may be treated to caribou steak cooked over a Coleman stove, while in the hotel, you may get to enjoy chicken Kiev. And if you’re a gourmet food fan, there is double-smoked Arctic Char, caribou steak or stew, scallops and giant shrimp to please your palate.
Some of the activities available in Nunavut are dogsledding, birding, hunting and fishing, camping, photography, hiking, boating and canoeing, whale watching and much more.
If you enjoy art, you can watch Inuit carvers sculpt a piece from soapstone, or listen to melodious a-ya-ya singers perform their beautiful music.
Although Inuktitut has been the traditional language for thousands of years, many of the people also speak English, and English is taught all schools now, along with the native language.
The Inuit people are friendly and helpful, and because they want you to come back, they will make sure you enjoy your trip. So if you’re up for exploring something new and unique, Nunavut is the place for you.
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