Iqaluit | Nunavut, Canada | Britannica.com Iqaluit Ottawa Iqaluit, formerly Frobisher Bay, town, capital of Nunavut territory and headquarters of Baffin region, Canada . It lies at the head of Frobisher Bay , on southeastern Baffin Island . Iqaluit is the largest community in the eastern Canadian Arctic . It was established as a trading post in 1914 and became an air base during World War II . It later was the site of construction camps for the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line of radar stations, and it also has a meteorological station. The name of the town signifies “place of fish” in the Inuktitut language. Iqaluit is an outlet for Inuit art, and its Nunuuta Sunaqutangit Museum has Arctic displays. Nearby territorial parks include Qaummaarvit, Sylvia Grinnell, and Katannilik. Pop. (2006) 6,184; (2011) 6,699. The Legislative Assembly building, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Can.

Ansgar Walk Nunavut vast territory of northern Canada that stretches across most of the Canadian Arctic. Created in 1999 out of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut encompasses the traditional lands of the Inuit, the indigenous peoples of Arctic Canada (known as Eskimo in the United States); its... Baffin northernmost and easternmost region of Nunavut territory, Canada. In 1967 it was created as Baffin region, Northwest Territories, from most of what was formerly Franklin district, and it took on its present borders with the creation of Nunavut in April 1999. The largest of Nunavut’s three... 3 References found in Britannica Articles Assorted References Baffin Island (in Baffin Island ) Baffin region (in Baffin ) Frobisher Bay (in Frobisher Bay ) External Links Iqaluit - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) The capital of Canada’s Nunavut territory is Iqaluit, the largest community in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Nunavut was created as a homeland for Canada’s Inuit people in 1999.

The town lies at the head of Frobisher Bay, on southeastern Baffin Island. Iqaluit is a center of commerce and culture as well as of government. Nunavut Arctic College and the Nunuuta Sunaqutangit Museum, which displays Inuit artifacts and artwork, are both in Iqaluit. Article History Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience. You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval.

Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Submit Thank You for Your Contribution! Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later. Close Date Published: June 29, 2012 URL: Access Date: January 17, 2017 Share Nunavut | history - geography - territory, Canada | Britannica.com territory, Canada Peter Taptuna (no political affiliation) Date of admission "Nunavut saginivut (Nunavut, our strength)" Territorial flower Seats in House of Commons 1 (of 308) Time zone Pacific (GMT − 8 hours) Nunavut, vast territory of northern Canada that stretches across most of the Canadian Arctic.

Created in 1999 out of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories , Nunavut encompasses the traditional lands of the Inuit, the indigenous peoples of Arctic Canada (known as Eskimo in the United States); its name means “Our Land” in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. The capital is Iqaluit , at the head of Frobisher Bay on southern Baffin Island . Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Rock-strewn tundra of the barren Arctic lands of Polar Bear Pass on Bathurst Island, Nunavut, Can. Brian Milne/First Light The Arctic Ocean bounds Nunavut to the north, Greenland (separated from it by a series of narrow straits, Baffin Bay , and Davis Strait ) lies to the east, and Quebec adjoins it to the southeast across Hudson Strait and the northeastern arm of Hudson Bay . Its only land boundaries are with Manitoba to the south and the Northwest Territories to the southwest and west. Nunavut constitutes the greater part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, including its largest island, Baffin Island.

In addition, several islands are divided between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories (notably Victoria and Melville islands), and Nunavut’s territory extends to numerous islands in Hudson Bay, such as the Belcher Islands . Area 808,185 square miles (2,093,190 square km). Pop. (2011) 31,906. Land Relief and drainage Nunavut comprises two distinct physiographic regions: the Canadian Shield , including the mainland and the islands around Hudson Bay, and the Arctic Archipelago in the north. The flat, often poorly drained lowlands of the Canadian Shield are underlain with ancient rock more than 1 billion years old. Thousands of lakes dot the heavily glaciated surface. The Arctic Archipelago consists of lowlands in the south that rise to the Innuitian Mountains in the north and along the eastern side of Baffin Island. Barbeau Peak, on northern Ellesmere Island , is the territory’s highest point, reaching an elevation of 8,583 feet (2,616 metres). Much of the archipelago is permanently covered in snow and ice, especially in the north and east.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Exploring Canada: Fact or Fiction? The origins of the Inuit are obscure, but people have been living in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago for more than 4,000 years. The several dialect groups now present in Nunavut are all apparently descended from what is known as the Thule culture , a prehistoric maritime society. Thule peoples first arrived in what is now Nunavut about 1,000 years ago. Traditionally, the Inuit relied on trapping, hunting, and fishing for clothing and food; they lived in igloos, semisubterranean houses, or animal-skin tents. Eskimo (Inuit) family inside an igloo lit by a kudlik (soapstone oil lamp). Wayne R. Bilenduke—Stone/Getty Images Early contacts with explorers and whaling crews introduced new diseases and reduced the population during the 19th century. The fur trade was not well established in the Arctic until early in the 20th century, but the Inuit adapted quickly to it, and they, like the Dene, came to depend on outside sources for most of the necessities of life.

Construction activity during World War II and in the postwar years further affected their way of life. The Inuit adapted readily to the opportunities for casual employment, and many were quick to abandon their seminomadic trapping and hunting existence for life in the settlements. Canadian government policy in the 1950s and ’60s promoted that trend. Settlement patterns Nunavut is among the most sparsely populated habitable regions on Earth. Settlements are very small and are clustered largely in the coastal areas. Iqaluit, the administrative, commercial, and cultural centre of the territory, is the largest town. Among the other towns are Rankin Inlet (Kangiqting) on the northwest coast of Hudson Bay, Pangnirtung (Panniqtuuq) on the Cumberland Peninsula of Baffin Island, and Cambridge Bay (Ikaluktutiak) on the southeast coast of Victoria Island. Alert, a weather station and military outpost on the north coast of Ellesmere Island, is the northernmost community in North America . Demographic trends Because of the high rate of natural increase among the Inuit, their proportion of the territorial population is growing.

The age structure of the territory is considerably younger than it is for the rest of Canada, and more than one-third of the population is younger than age 15. Economy Aside from its people, Nunavut’s greatest economic asset is its mineral wealth, which includes reserves of iron and nonferrous ores, precious metals and diamonds, and petroleum and natural gas. Exploitation of those resources is hampered, however, by high production costs and transportation difficulties. The federal government has participated in resource development mainly by providing infrastructure and assisting in the search for minerals. In addition, government agencies produce and distribute electric power throughout the territory. The government and its agencies are a major source of employment and income for the territory. Fishing and hunting Turbot, shrimp, and Arctic char are fished and exported to southern markets from several communities in the eastern Arctic. Some Inuit continue to perform the traditional activities of trapping small mammals, fishing, and hunting sea mammals to supplement the imported food upon which they now rely. Some sealskins are sold to commercial garment makers. Sport fishing and hunting draw tourists to the territory. Traditional Inuit (Eskimo) ice fishing near Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Can.

© Staffan Widstrand/Corbis Resources and power Mining is the principal resource-based industry in the territory. Lead and zinc were mined on Little Cornwallis Island until reserves were depleted in 2002. Gold deposits have been worked on the mainland at Contwoyto Lake, southwest of Bathurst Inlet. A diamond mine operates about 220 miles (350 km) southwest of Cambridge Bay (Ikaluktutiak). Significant yet untapped reserves of oil and natural gas also exist in the territory. Services, labour, and taxation The largest source of jobs is the service sector, particularly such government services as administration, health care, education, and welfare. Many construction jobs have been available in both the public and private sectors, although substantial numbers of those employed are migrant workers attracted by high wages. Tourism, centred around the territory’s natural attractions and unique culture , constitutes a small but significant service industry. Overall, however, the unemployment rate in Nunavut is higher than that in Canada as a whole. The territory derives the bulk of its revenue from the federal government, though it does collect income, consumption , and property taxes. Transportation and telecommunications Nearly all passenger and much freight traffic is carried by air.

Settlements on the west coast of Hudson Bay and in Keewatin region are connected to Winnipeg, Man., and those in the eastern Arctic are connected to Montreal. Surface transportation for heavy freight is mainly by water. Fuel oil for heating and other bulky supplies are carried to eastern Arctic settlements by seagoing supply ships operated by a number of commercial carriers. Government departments also supply remote villages and military installations along the eastern coastline. Roads connect a number of communities. Snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles often are used for local transportation. The Inuit once traveled by dogsled throughout the region; however, dogsledding is now mostly a recreational activity. Satellite television and Internet connections are available to most communities in the territory. Government and society Constitutional framework The federal government in Ottawa retains the ultimate responsibility for government in the territory. However, a territorial administration sitting at Iqaluit exercises effective government power. This administration consists of a commissioner, who is appointed by the Canadian government and whose powers are largely ceremonial, and the Legislative Assembly , which is elected by the people of the territory. All members of the assembly are elected as independents, as there is no system of political parties.

The assembly chooses a speaker, a premier, and a cabinet from among its members to form a government. The working language of the administration is Inuktitut, although English and French also are used. The justice system is headed by a single-level trial court. Law enforcement is carried out by community-based policing services supported by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police . Nunavut elects one representative to the Canadian Parliament. The federal government controls natural resources on federally owned lands and administers them through its Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada . Health and education Most of the region’s education and health care services were provided by missionaries until the 1950s, when the Canadian government largely took over those responsibilities. Today Nunavut’s Department of Education oversees elementary and secondary schooling, and Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit offers postsecondary programs and courses. The use of Inuktitut is promoted in the schools, and the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada gives financial support for aboriginal education. Community health nurses, regional health-care centres, and a hospital in Iqaluit provide health care. The territory offers comprehensive medical insurance plans to residents.

Cultural life Despite the impact of North American media and other modern influences, many traditional elements of the Inuit culture have been preserved. In the years following World War II, Canadian artist and author James Archibald Houston , with the assistance of the Hudson’s Bay Company , was instrumental in the promotion and sale of Inuit art. Public policy has continued to encourage the development of Inuit traditions in arts and crafts—including stone carvings, weavings, and prints—providing an important supplementary source of income in some Inuit communities and making Inuit culture familiar to collectors worldwide. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the musical career of Inuit singer and lyricist Susan Aglukark also promoted greater understanding and appreciation of Inuit cultural life in a modern context . Sports and recreation Winter sports, such as hockey and curling, are popular in Nunavut, as are dogsled and snowmobile racing and traditional Arctic games. Outdoor activities, including hunting, fishing, hiking, and kayaking, attract visitors to the territory.

Large areas of the territory are set aside as protected areas, including Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island; Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island; Sirmilik National Park on northern Baffin Island and Bylot Island; Ukkusiksalik National Park on the mainland; Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary, also on the mainland; and Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, shared with the Northwest Territories. Media and publishing Several weekly newspapers are published in the territory, both in English and in Inuktitut. A number of radio and television stations broadcast a variety of programming. Broadcasting in Inuktitut is well established. History This portion of the article covers the history of what is now Nunavut from the late 20th century. For earlier history of the region, see Northwest Territories: History . By the mid-20th century most Inuit of the region, then a part of the Northwest Territories, had replaced their seminomadic hunting, fishing, and trapping lifestyle with a more sedentary style of living in settled communities, where dependence on government welfare support became the norm.

Nutrition and health care improved, but there also were serious social problems related to alcohol and other substance abuse, unemployment, and crime. Dissatisfaction with those conditions and the wish to participate more directly in the processes of resource development led the Inuit to exert pressure on the federal and territorial governments to grant them greater control over the administration of their own affairs. In the mid-1970s the Inuit began negotiations to settle land claims and proposed the creation of a separate Inuit territory. A plebiscite in the Northwest Territories in 1992 approved the division of the territories. With that mandate , the Inuit and representatives of the federal government reached an agreement that produced two acts of the Canadian Parliament in 1993. The first, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, settled Inuit land claims against the government by giving the Inuit outright control of more than 135,000 square miles (350,000 square km) of territory and providing cash payments from the federal government over a 14-year period; the second, the Nunavut Act, established the territory of Nunavut out of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories.

Following a transitional period, Nunavut came into being on April 1, 1999. After its inception, the Nunavut experiment in ethnic-based territorial government had mixed success. The economy grew, but it remained almost entirely dependent on transfers of income from the federal government. Despite a reawakening of native culture and pride, alienation of the territory’s youth, unemployment, substance abuse, and other social ills common to the peripheral communities of North America persisted. Native elders, the territorial authorities, and the federal government continued to deal with these challenges in the early years of the 21st century. Iqaluit | Define Iqaluit at Dictionary.com Iqaluit [ih-kah-loo-it, ee-kah-loo-eet] /ɪˈkɑ lu ɪt, iˈkɑ luˌit/ Spell the capital of Nunavut, Canada, in SE Baffin Island. Expand [noo-nuh-voot, noo-nuh-voot] /ˌnu nəˈvut, ˈnu nəˌvut/ Spell noun 1.

a territory in N Canada, formed in 1999 from part of the Northwest Territories, extending E from the Northwest Territories to Hudson Bay and including most of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. 808,181 sq. mi. (2,093, 190 sq. km) Capital: Iqaluit. Examples from the Web for Iqaluit Expand Contemporary Examples The royal couple are currently in Ottawa, and tomorrow will set out for Nunavut, in Iqaluit, which sounds very far north indeed. British Dictionary definitions for Iqaluit Expand a town in N Canada, capital of Nunavut. Pop: 5236 (2001) Former name Frobisher Bay Nunavut noun 1. a territory of NW Canada, formed in 1999 from part of the Northwest Territories as a semi-autonomous region for the Inuit; includes Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island. Capital: Iqaluit. Pop: 29 644 (2004 est).

Area: 2 093 190 sq km (808 185 sq miles) Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 The struggle in Iqaluit: north and south collide in Canada's Arctic capital | Cities | The Guardian Guardian Canada week The struggle in Iqaluit: north and south collide in Canada's Arctic capital Iqaluit shot to prominence in 1995 as the capital for a bold endeavour in Inuit self-government. But their fight to carve out a modern city that still pays tribute to ancient traditions had just begun A mural on Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit, Nunavut. The work by Jonathan Cruz, Patrick Thompson and Alexa Hatanaka was brainstormed by elders and grade 11 students.

Photograph: Leyland Cecco for the Guardian Cities is supported by Tuesday 5 July 2016 06.23 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 5 July 2016 17.00 EDT Share on Messenger Close As her car winds along one of Iqaluit’s few roads, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril points to one of the few buildings that dot the treeless tundra. It’s a weathered, wooden house on the shores of Frobisher Bay. Its white peeling paint facade is punctuated with a red door and the words “Hudson’s Bay Company”. It was at this former trading point, Arnaquq-Baril says, that an incident occurred that helps explain how so many Inuit – the northern indigenous people who make up the bulk of Canada’s Arctic population – went from their nomadic lifestyles to settling in this unlikely city, in one of the planet’s harshest climates. A friend’s grandfather had stopped in at the trading post, leaving his dogs and sled outside with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). As he haggled inside, gunshots rang out. He ran outside to find his dogs dead.

“He tried to tell the RCMP that his family was across the bay and now he had no way of getting to them,” she says. The man’s story is common: many Inuit say they were trapped in permanent settlements after their dogs, their only means of transport, were killed by police. The RCMP claims some dogs were lawfully destroyed over concerns about public health and safety; many Inuit say it was to urbanise them. And yet minutes later, we come to a very different example of how Inuit coexist with southerners. A modest grey building, raised on stilts like most others in the city, but with a tall minaret topped with a white crescent moon – all that identifies it as one of the world’s northernmost mosques, built to serve Iqaluit’s 100-strong Muslim community. Last year, Muslim leaders presented Inuit elders with a freshly slaughtered lamb. “They wanted to show that in their culture, too, sharing food is really important,” says Arnaquq-Baril. But they were quick to stress the difference between the lamb and Inuit staples, such as seal meat, caribou and arctic char. “They told them, ‘Do not eat this raw.

You have to cook this meat,’” she laughs. Pinterest Iqaluit’s population is now only about 50% Inuit, and English has replaced Inuktitut as the city’s de facto language. Photograph: Stephan Savoia/AP This is life in Canada’s youngest and fastest-growing capital city: a diverse mix of cultures, piled atop an Inuit civilisation that stretches back millennia. Nearly two decades after Iqaluit stepped into the limelight as the capital of Nunavut, Canada’s newest territory, its residents – many of whom were forcibly pushed into an urban lifestyle that sharply contrasted with their own traditions and cultures – continue to grapple with a key question: how do you carve out a modern city that pays tribute to ancient traditions? “There’s an extreme amount of intergenerational trauma that the next generation has inherited through their ancestors,” says Malaya Qaunirq Chapman, a 27-year-old tour guide in Iqaluit . “Now it’s the decision of, ‘Do I live out the traditions of my ancestors, or do I live out the modern lifestyle that we are forced to conform to?’ And how do you meet in the middle, and how do you make the two work together?

How do you belong?” Nunavut was not created so that southern Canadians could find high-paying jobs Anubha Momin Hints of this tension are strewn about town, from the intricate Inuit sculptures that sit among the city’s crop of space-age fibreglass buildings – built without windows at the height of the 1970s oil crisis to save on heating costs – to the igloo-shaped Anglican cathedral. Iqaluit shot to national prominence in 1995 after it was chosen by referendum to become the capital of Nunavut. The territory, finally formed in 1999, gave Inuit in the region self-rule and control over their institutions. It made Iqaluit the political, cultural and economic hub of a bold Canadian endeavour in indigenous self-government. Amid some of the highest unemployment, suicide and poverty rates in the country, Inuit leaders envisioned Iqaluit as a place from which “made in Nunavut” strategies could counter decades of top-down, western European approaches. Some 17 years later, says the mayor, Madeleine Redfern, it’s still a work in progress. “I think sometimes we get a little bit stuck.

We keep doing things the way that they’ve been done in the south. We could have Nunavut be as culturally distinct as Quebec is to the rest of English Canada , but from an Inuit perspective. It’s all up to us.” She points to an initial promise by the territorial government to have Inuktitut, the principal language spoken by Inuit in the territory, as the working language of government by 2020 – a radical reversal of the Canadian government’s persecution of the language and its dialects decades earlier. “That clearly is not going to happen,” she says. Since it became a capital, Iqaluit’s population has soared from some 3,000 people – most of them Inuit – to around 8,000, about 50% of them Inuit. While Inuktitut is spoken by three-quarters of Inuit, English has become the de facto language of Iqaluit. Redfern says knowledge of Inuktitut is eroding quickly: “It’s happening from one generation to the next.” Pinterest In the Iqaluit region the summer sun sets around midnight, only to rise a few hours later, and temperatures rise to a balmy 10C.

Photograph: Ashifa Kassam for the Guardian Overshadowing all this is the immense task of running a city at the whims of the Arctic. During winter, temperatures in Iqaluit regularly drop below -50C with windchill, while darkness reigns for months. On this year’s summer solstice, the sun set around midnight only to rise a few hours later, and temperatures rose to a balmy 10C – prompting all but tourists (and myself) to wander around in T-shirts. To make matters more difficult, Iqaluit is the only capital city in Canada with no road or reliable ship connections to other parts of the country. For much of the year, all supplies must be flown in, sending the cost of living skyrocketing. In Iqaluit, two litres of milk can cost around C$6.50. A one-litre bottle of Coca-Cola goes for $10. Arctic Ramadan: fasting in land of midnight sun comes with a challenge Read more Three or four times a year, depending on ice conditions in Frobisher Bay, a sealift boats in bulk supplies.

In recent years, an estimated 300 cars have arrived in the city every year this way, as well as furniture and building materials for new homes. As little can get into Iqaluit, little can get out. The city’s sprawling open-air dump sits near the causeway, piled with everything from household garbage to plastic pop bottles and discarded construction materials. As Iqaluit marked the longest day of the year, fire crews worked overtime to battle a blaze in the landfill. Some wondered if this was a repeat of the 2014 inferno, an unstable fire raging in a four-storey mountain of rubbish that the locals dubbed “Dumpcano”. As a weary authority struggled to keep up with a city whose population has more than doubled, climate change began to set in. Iqaluit is built on permafrost, with most buildings perched on stilts to avoid any heat transfer between the home and frozen ground; many sewage and water pipes are buried in the frozen ground. Warming temperatures are now shifting the active layers of the permafrost, leading to costly breaks in the pipes. “It’s really tough,” says Redfern, who estimates that $1bn of the community’s assets are now at risk.

“We need everyone to really understand that climate change is more than changing ice conditions and polar bears.” *** A traditional campsite and fishing base used by Inuit for thousands of years – the word “Iqaluit” means place of many fish – the origins of the first permanent settlement in the area can be traced to an American air base, built in 1941 to provide a stopover and refuelling site for aircraft travelling across the Atlantic during the second world war. Pinterest Malaya Qaunirq Chapman and 87-year-old Inuapik Sagiatuk, whose family was ordered by the government to settle in Iqaluit. Photograph: Ashifa Kassam for the Guardian Iqaluit’s population climbed steadily in the 1950s as construction workers and military personnel were brought to construct a Distant Early Warning line, a network of radar stations that turned Iqaluit into an outpost against potential Soviet intrusions. Some Inuit began to move into the community, hoping to take advantage of the economic opportunities being created by more than 5,000 American personnel. Others were forced to move into the settlement.

The Canadian government was convinced that Inuit needed to be formally educated and integrated into the wage economy. “Lots of us – adults and children – were brought here to populate this area,” says 87-year-old Inuapik Sagiatuk, who was a young girl when her family was ordered by the government to settle in the community. “There was not one building. There were army tents lined up along the shore.” By 1975, most of the area’s Inuit – celebrated around the world for their specialised and extensive knowledge that enabled generations to live off the land and thrive in one of the world’s toughest climates – had been moved into crowded, poorly planned communities and forced to adapt to a western European way of life. It was a jarring change, but the turbulent times were eased somewhat by the rich culture, says Sagiatuk. She now worries about what’s in store for future generations. “I worry they will forget how to be Inuit and lose their traditional language. Since lots of people from around the world have come here in great numbers, the Inuit way of life has changed drastically,” she says through a translator. Her comments hint at the tensions that underlie life in Iqaluit.

The capital was conceived to be an exception among Canadian cities. But today a wide chasm exists between the city’s Inuit residents and the thousands who flood into the city from around the world, seemingly reinforcing the very notion of southern dominance that Nunavut was meant to combat. Pinterest In 2015, the median age of the Nunavut territory hadn’t yet eclipsed 25. The Arctic is young. Photograph: Leyland Cecco for the Guardian While Iqaluit-specific figures are hard to come by, 2014 figures for Nunavut put the median income for non-Inuit residents at $86,600 a year, while for Inuit it stood at $19,900. The unemployment rate for Inuit across the territory hovers around 20%. University graduates are in high demand by the various levels of government, despite high school graduation rates of 57%. The resulting overstock of high-paying jobs and ample opportunities attract a large number of transient residents from across Canada.

Many of them simply float through life in Iqaluit as though on a permanent vacation, says Anubha Momin, a transplant from Toronto who arrived in Iqaluit four years ago. “They’re not rooted, they’re not integrated and they don’t want to be.” Catapulted into positions of authority, some southerners scarcely understand the distinctive history of the population they are now serving, says Momin. She cites social media posts that complain of being “trapped” in Iqaluit or describe trips home as a return to civilisation. “It’s not right, especially for a place that is so dear to people and that a people fought for,” she says. “That wasn’t what Nunavut was created for. Nunavut was not created so that southern Canadians could find high-paying jobs.” Do I live out the traditions of my ancestors, or do I live out the modern lifestyle we are forced to conform to? Malaya Qaunirq Chapman Other non-Inuit blend seamlessly into the fabric of the city, their plans for a short-term stay stretching to decades as they embrace the city’s singular culture and learn to echo the Inuit’s deep reverence for the land around them.

They’re part of a community that gives Iqaluit its charming, small-town feel, even as it battles social issues on a big-city scale. Home to just 30,000 people, Nunavut sees more than 1,000 suicide attempts each year . A 2011 report averaged the suicide rate across the territory at 63.9 suicides per 100,000 people , making it one of the highest in the world. Rates of domestic violence rank among the highest in the country, while a 2014 report revealed 40% of Inuit adults in Nunavut had experienced severe sexual abuse as children. Filmmaker Arnaquq-Baril points to recent history to explain why a people, known around the world for their resilience, are now faltering. “There are just so many horrible things that happened within a 20 to 30-year period,” she says. Starting in the 1950s, the slaughter of hundreds – if not thousands – of dogs left many Inuit with few options but to settle into permanent communities. Others were forcibly relocated north by a Canadian government keen to claim sovereignty over the high reaches of the Arctic.

Some Inuit were also sent away to residential schools, described by a recent truth commission as a church-run tool of cultural genocide, rife with abuse. Pinterest Activists protest the seal hunt at the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP Much like other aboriginal peoples across North America, Inuit were left reeling, says Arnaquq-Baril. “But we’re doing it in one of the harshest climates on the planet with the fewest economic options.” The sealskin industry became an anchor during the traumatic upheaval: many Inuit found solace in a return to the culture of their ancestors, and a solution to their hunger and limited incomes. “It kind of became a stable source of income that allowed us to transition from a semi-nomadic lifestyle into sedentary community lives.” The brief respite was soon shattered, however, by the anti-sealing campaigns of animal rights activists. Sealskin bans were passed in the US and EU; Arnaquq-Baril’s latest and critically acclaimed film Angry Inuk explores the devastating effect these bans have had on the Inuit.

A 1983 ban on sealskins, passed by what was then the European Community, led to the collapse of the market. In Nunavut, poverty became the new normal, the already high suicide rates soared and some seven out of 10 Inuit children were left going to school hungry. Inuit men, in particular, were left scarred by the collapse of the industry. “Our men are really struggling … It was so recent that all of our men were hunters, that it’s part of a young Inuk man’s identity that you’re supposed to be a hunter,” she says. “It’s very frustrating when the organisations that are putting us in this position live in some of the richest parts of the world, with the richest farmland in the world, and the easiest temperatures to live in – those are the people running the campaigns that affect us.” Much of what happens today in Iqaluit and Nunavut is now in the hands of animal activists who live a world away, she says, echoing the tumultuous decades when life in Iqaluit was governed by distant dictates, issued by those with little understanding of Inuit culture or the challenges they face.

Welcome to the new Toronto: the most fascinatingly boring city in the world Read more Glimmers of hope come from the many in Iqaluit who are beginning to fight back, cultivating an Inuit voice that builds on the work of previous generations to seize on the opportunities offered by the territory’s groundbreaking experiment. Some of the solutions conceived are practical, such as the Inuit’s challenge of the EU sealskin ban, the launch of the city’s first Inuktitut-language daycare, or the push for a performing arts centre in Iqaluit to bolster the resurgence of once-persecuted Inuit arts such as throat singing, drum dancing and storytelling. Other solutions are deeply personal, such as that found on the walls of Karliin Aariak’s dining room, which is wallpapered over with the pages of an Inuktitut-language magazine dedicated to Inuit music in the 1980s. “When Inuit lived in sod houses, when paper started becoming more available, Inuit used it as insulation. I wanted to do today’s version of that,” says Aariak. She enlisted her daughter to put it up.

“It was a way to show my daughter something that was the norm for my grandparents and my great-grandparents.” For the mother of two, it was a way to blend her culture into modern-day life in Iqaluit. “For so many years, our society and the way we live has been pushed around,” says Aariak. “In this generation, we’re aware of what happens. But we’re not willing to just stand by.” Nunavut, Canada's Third Territory North of 60 Nunavut, Canada's Third Territory North of 60 Nunavut, Canada's Third Territory North of 60 On April 1, 1999, Canada created a third territory called Nunavut, which was carved out of the central and eastern area of the Northwest Territories (NWT). Inuit make up almost 85 percent of Nunavut's population. Nunavut means "our land" in Inuktitut, the Inuit language. Nunavut In the 1970s, Inuit began to organize in response to the fast-paced changes taking place in the north and affecting their lives.

Some of the Inuit's concerns were about how oil, gas and mineral exploration in the north would affect them. They also feared that their cultural well-being, so strongly tied to the land, was at risk. Inuit believe they must give equal respect to the spirits of the land, animals and plants. These beliefs guide Inuit in using the land, sea and other resources wisely. Inuit want to continue their traditional use of the land – hunting and trapping as their ancestors have done. In the face of resource exploration, Inuit are concerned about losing their traditional way of life. In 1992, Inuit of the eastern Arctic began writing a new chapter in the story of Canada when they reached an agreement with the Government of Canada to create a new territory called Nunavut in 1999. Nunavut covers one-fifth of Canada – 2 million square kilometres, about three times the size of the island of Newfoundland – and is home to some 33,330 people, including 28,000 Inuit. It has 28 villages or communities, including the capital, Iqaluit, located on Baffin Island. That's where the territorial government is.

About 7,250 people live in Iqaluit. Inuit For many years Inuit in Canada were called Eskimos. Today, these northern peoples are referred to as "Inuit," the Inuktitut word for "the people." Today, most Inuit use snowmobiles instead of sleds and dog teams, live in houses instead of igloos and wear snowmobile boots and commercially made parkas. But some still follow traditional ways and wear traditional dress. A favoured coat, for instance, is the amautik, a parka with an oversized hood. Women with young children like this coat because the large hood acts as a built-in baby pouch to carry their babies! Another favourite item is an ulu, a semi-circular knife that Inuit women have used for centuries and still use today to cut up seal meat. And while young children watch television, their grandmother chews a caribou skin to make it soft before turning the skin into moccasins. Today's Inuit strive to transmit the heritage of their ancestors to their children. In school, children learn Inuktitut as well as English. Community Elders teach life skills courses to ensure that young Inuit learn about their culture.

Students gain practical experience in such traditional skills as hunting, butchering and skinning of slain animals, and preparation of Inuit food. Activities for grades 5-6 Activity #1 Inuit were very clever in making use of all their resources. Wood was so scarce, some Inuit used frozen fish wrapped in sealskin as dogsled runners. Talk about fish to go! Also, antlers, for instance, became fish hooks, and bones were turned into toys. But antlers and bones had other uses as well. Can you think of different ways to turn the animal parts listed below into clothes and tools? Be as creative as you can! antlers Nunavut Territory - definition of Nunavut Territory by The Free Dictionary Nunavut Territory - definition of Nunavut Territory by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Nu·na·vut (no͞o′nə-vo͞ot′) Abbr. NU A territory of northern Canada including part of the mainland west of Hudson Bay and most of the Arctic Archipelago. Primarily inhabited and controlled by the Inuit, it was formed from the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories in 1999.

Iqaluit is the capital. Nunavut (ˈnuːnəˌvuːt) n (Placename) a territory of NW Canada, formed in 1999 from part of the Northwest Territories as a semi-autonomous region for the Inuit; includes Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island. Capital: Iqaluit. Pop: 31 906 (2011 est). Area: 2 093 190 sq km (808 185 sq miles) Nu•na•vut (ˈnu nəˌvut, ˈnʊn əˌvʊt) n. a territory in N Canada, formerly the E part of the Northwest Territories. 25,000; 772,000 sq. mi. (2,000,000 sq. km).Cap.:Iqaluit. Abbr.: NT ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Noun 1.

Nunavut - an Arctic territory in northern Canada created in 1999 and governed solely by the Inuit; includes the eastern part of what was the Northwest Territories and most of the islands of the Arctic Archipelago; "Nunavut is the homeland of the Inuit people" Canada - a nation in northern North America; the French were the first Europeans to settle in mainland Canada; "the border between the United States and Canada is the longest unguarded border in the world" Translations Nunavut Nunavut - definition of Nunavut by The Free Dictionary Nunavut - definition of Nunavut by The Free Dictionary Nu·na·vut (no͞o′nə-vo͞ot′) Abbr. NU A territory of northern Canada including part of the mainland west of Hudson Bay and most of the Arctic Archipelago. Primarily inhabited and controlled by the Inuit, it was formed from the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories in 1999. Iqaluit is the capital.

Nunavut (ˈnuːnəˌvuːt) n (Placename) a territory of NW Canada, formed in 1999 from part of the Northwest Territories as a semi-autonomous region for the Inuit; includes Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island. Capital: Iqaluit. Pop: 31 906 (2011 est). Area: 2 093 190 sq km (808 185 sq miles) Nu•na•vut (ˈnu nəˌvut, ˈnʊn əˌvʊt) n. a territory in N Canada, formerly the E part of the Northwest Territories. 25,000; 772,000 sq. mi. (2,000,000 sq. km).Cap.:Iqaluit. Abbr.: NT ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Noun 1.

Nunavut - an Arctic territory in northern Canada created in 1999 and governed solely by the Inuit; includes the eastern part of what was the Northwest Territories and most of the islands of the Arctic Archipelago; "Nunavut is the homeland of the Inuit people" Canada - a nation in northern North America; the French were the first Europeans to settle in mainland Canada; "the border between the United States and Canada is the longest unguarded border in the world" Translations Nunavut Workers World April 22, 1999: Inuit peoples win measure of sovereignty Inuit peoples win measure of sovereignty By G. Dunkel With appropriate pomp and ceremony, on April 1 Canada turned over a large piece of its land to the newly created territory of Nunavut. Over 85 percent of the people living there are Inuit--a people formerly and disparagingly called Eskimos. They obtained 10 percent of the mineral rights in Nunavut. The Canadian government will allocate $1.4 billion to Nunavut over the next 10 years to compensate for past injustices.

Many of the Inuit elders in Nunavut were forcibly relocated by Canada from more southern areas in the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1980s, Canadian police killed hunting dogs to force small bands of people to congregate in larger towns so they could get "appropriate" educational and social services. In the U.S. state of Alaska, Inuit got a sizable financial settlement in the 1980s, but no political autonomy. The Inuit in Greenland got political autonomy from Greenland in the 1990s but no financial compensation. Nunavut got both. Nunavut will be one of the three territories and 10 provinces to make up Canada. Its elected legislature will have authority over education, health, social services and local environmental regulation. Its residents, like those of other territories, will have representation in the Canadian Parliament. Approximately the size of Mexico, Nunavut covers 20 percent of Canada's territory. About 26,000 people are spread over 28 communities. It has only 12 miles of roads, so almost all transportation is by boat, air or over the ice in the winter.

Most in favor The general reaction of Inuit living in Canada, as expressed to the media, was favorable. At a meeting of the 500 Inuit living in Ottawa, Canada's capital, elder Maali--Mary Peter--told the Ottawa Citizen that she was celebrating "for our leaders who will be governing us in a way that will be encouraging children to stay in school." (April 1) She spoke in Inuktitut. She went on to add: "It will give Inuit back ownership of their lives. There will be more pride in our young people. It will help them instill their heritage and culture. It will help them have an identity." In Iqualuit, the capital of Nunavut, 17-year-old high school student Miali Coley told the Toronto Star: "This is a very proud time for a lot of people, and for me. Finally it's happening. We get to be represented by who we are." (April 1) Rosanne Qaqqasiq, 16, disagrees with her friend. "It's just going to feel the same to me. Nothing to do for teens," she said.

"I don't really care." The social problems that Nunavut faces are the same as those of any Native people in North America, intensified by its isolation and extremely harsh climate. But right now the people seem to be facing the future with a great deal of optimism. Canada needs to populate its North, both to develop its economy and retain its sovereignty. In the past it used force and coercion, but those measures weren't enough. Now it has taken a different tack to achieve the same ends. It made what it regards as substantial concessions to the Inuit. Whether this is enough to improve the lives of the Inuit is yet to be determined. They have been struggling since the early 1970s for more control of their own society and their own economy. In Greenland, a Marxist Inuit party has been campaigning against the U.S. air base there. A victory in Nunavut will have wide repercussions for all Native peoples in the Far North. This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License . Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011

Question: Iqualuit is the capital of which Canadian autonomous Inuit territory created in 1999?
Answer: NUNAVUT