In less than two years, the Nunavut government will be created and people here are preparing for momentous change. In the meantime, the GNWT continues to employ most Inuit here. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the organization implementing the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, however, also employs many local people. Mineral deposits near Cambridge Bay and throughout the Kitikmeot mean many Inuit are working for southern-based mining companies in the region. Despite this activity, the people of Cambridge Bay still value their traditional lifestyle.
Many elders depend on the abundant wildlife here for their food.
Others, who are educated in southern ways and work in 9 to 5 jobs, leave town when they can to hunt and fish nearby. Even young people, who rely on the goods and services of outsiders, are becoming conscious of the importance of protecting their cultural heritage. In the early 1950s, the community of Cambridge Bay grew with the establishment of a DEW Line station and a military airstrip. The little bay here offered an excellent harbor where the Hudson's Bay Co. could set up a post nearby and offload supplies. The Inuit came to the community from areas to the west, and many still have relatives and close ties in settlements as far away as Tuktoyaktuk in the western Arctic.