Grise Fiord, Nunavut
Encyclopedia
Grise Fiord, is a small Inuit
hamlet
in the Qikiqtaaluk Region in the territory of Nunavut
, Canada
. Despite its low population (141 residents as of the Canada 2006 Census
), it is the largest community on Ellesmere Island
. It is also one of the coldest inhabited places in the world, with an average yearly temperature of -16.5 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit).
in Canada
, but was eclipsed by Alert
eight hundred km north as the North America's northernmost community when Environment Canada
and the Canadian Forces
began to station permanent personnel there.
Located at the southern tip of Ellesmere Island
, Grise Fiord is one of three permanent settlements on the island. Grise Fiord lies 1160 km (720.8 mi) north of the Arctic Circle
.
Grise Fiord lies in the Arctic Cordillera
mountain range
which is the only major mountain system east of the Canadian Rockies
.
, which means that there is less than 250 mm (10 in) precipitation, and temperature stays below 0 °C (32 °F) for eight months of the year. The record low was -62.2 C. It has an average yearly temperature of -16.5 C.
study of Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) activity in the Baffin Region states that Grise Fiord had the lowest rate of criminal offences of all communities looked at in 1992, and cites a 1994 Statistics Canada
survey that gives the highest perception of personal safety.
The settlement (and Resolute
) was created by the Canadian government in 1953, partly to assert sovereignty in the High Arctic during the Cold War
. Eight Inuit families from Inukjuak, Quebec
(on the Ungava Peninsula
) were relocated after being promised homes and game to hunt, but the relocated people discovered no buildings and very little familiar wildlife. They were told that they would be returned home after a year if they wished, but this offer was later withdrawn as it would damage Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area and the Inuit were forced to stay. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 square kilometres (6,950 sq mi) each year.
In 1993, the Canadian government held hearings to investigate the relocation program. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
issued a report entitled The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953-55 Relocation, recommending a settlement. The government paid $10 million CAD to the survivors and their families, and gave a formal apology in 2008.
In 2009, Looty Pijamini
was commissioned by the Canadian Government to design a monument in memory of the relocation. Depicting a sad-looking woman with a young boy and a husky, the monument was unveiled by John Duncan
, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, on September 10, 2010.
established what was then the world's most northerly telephone
exchange (operated since 1992 by Northwestel
).
and was named by Otto Sverdrup
from Norway
during an expedition around 1900. He thought the walrus
in the area sounded like pigs. Grise Fiord's Inuktitut
name is Aujuittuq which means "place that never thaws."
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
in the Qikiqtaaluk Region in the territory of Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Despite its low population (141 residents as of the Canada 2006 Census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
), it is the largest community on Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...
. It is also one of the coldest inhabited places in the world, with an average yearly temperature of -16.5 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit).
Geography
Grise Fiord is the northernmost civilian settlementNorthernmost settlements
Some of the northernmost settlements in the world are:-Larger cities north of the Arctic circle:-See also:*Southernmost settlements*Extreme points of Earth*The world's most northern bagpipe orchestra, city, capital, zoo etc....
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, but was eclipsed by Alert
Alert, Nunavut
Alert, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada, is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world, from the North Pole. It takes its name from HMS Alert, which wintered east of the present station, off what is now Cape Sheridan, in 1875–1876.Alert was reported to have five permanent...
eight hundred km north as the North America's northernmost community when Environment Canada
Environment Canada
Environment Canada , legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC) (French: Environnement Canada), legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment...
and the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
began to station permanent personnel there.
Located at the southern tip of Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...
, Grise Fiord is one of three permanent settlements on the island. Grise Fiord lies 1160 km (720.8 mi) north of the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
.
Grise Fiord lies in the Arctic Cordillera
Arctic Cordillera
The Arctic Cordillera is a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges extending along the northeastern flank of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from Ellesmere Island to the northeasternmost part of the Labrador Peninsula in northern Labrador and northern Quebec, Canada...
mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
which is the only major mountain system east of the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
.
Climate
The climate in Grise Fiord is severely cold. Grise Fiord has an Arctic climatePolar climate
Regions with a polar climate are characterized by a lack of warm summers . Regions with polar climate cover over 20% of the Earth. The sun shines 24 hours in the summer, and barely ever shines at all in the winter...
, which means that there is less than 250 mm (10 in) precipitation, and temperature stays below 0 °C (32 °F) for eight months of the year. The record low was -62.2 C. It has an average yearly temperature of -16.5 C.
Crime and safety
A Simon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
study of Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP) activity in the Baffin Region states that Grise Fiord had the lowest rate of criminal offences of all communities looked at in 1992, and cites a 1994 Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
survey that gives the highest perception of personal safety.
Settlement
The settlement (and Resolute
Resolute, Nunavut
Resolute or Resolute Bay is a small Inuit hamlet on Cornwallis Island in Nunavut, Canada. It is situated at the northern end of Resolute Bay and the Northwest Passage and is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region....
) was created by the Canadian government in 1953, partly to assert sovereignty in the High Arctic during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Eight Inuit families from Inukjuak, Quebec
Inukjuak, Quebec
Inukjuak , alternatively spelled Inoucdjouac, former name and current postal name Port Harrison, is an Inuit settlement located on Hudson Bay at the mouth of the Innuksuak River in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, Canada. Its population is 1,294...
(on the Ungava Peninsula
Ungava Peninsula
The Ungava Peninsula of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada, is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, Hudson Strait to the north, and Ungava Bay to the east. The Ungava Peninsula is part of the Labrador Peninsula and covers about 252,000 km²...
) were relocated after being promised homes and game to hunt, but the relocated people discovered no buildings and very little familiar wildlife. They were told that they would be returned home after a year if they wished, but this offer was later withdrawn as it would damage Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area and the Inuit were forced to stay. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 square kilometres (6,950 sq mi) each year.
In 1993, the Canadian government held hearings to investigate the relocation program. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was a Canadian Royal Commission established in 1991 to address many issues of aboriginal status that had come to light with recent events such as the Oka Crisis and the Meech Lake Accord. The commission culminated in a final report of 4000 pages,...
issued a report entitled The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953-55 Relocation, recommending a settlement. The government paid $10 million CAD to the survivors and their families, and gave a formal apology in 2008.
In 2009, Looty Pijamini
Looty Pijamini
Looty Pijamini is an Inuit artist. He lives and works in Grise Fiord, Nunavut.Pijamini was born November 14, 1953, in Clyde River, Nunavut,...
was commissioned by the Canadian Government to design a monument in memory of the relocation. Depicting a sad-looking woman with a young boy and a husky, the monument was unveiled by John Duncan
John Duncan (Canadian politician)
John Morris Duncan, PC, MP, is a Canadian politician sitting as a member of the Canadian Parliament from 1993 to January 2006 and again from October 2008...
, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, on September 10, 2010.
Telephone network
In 1970, Bell CanadaBell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
established what was then the world's most northerly telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
exchange (operated since 1992 by Northwestel
Northwestel
Northwestel Inc. is the incumbent local exchange carrier and long distance carrier in Northern Canada. The company name is a portmanteau, sometimes spelled NorthwesTel, for Northwest Telecommunications.-Modern corporate history:...
).
Naming
Grise Fiord means "pig inlet" in NorwegianNorwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
and was named by Otto Sverdrup
Otto Sverdrup
Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer.-Early and personal life:...
from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
during an expedition around 1900. He thought the walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
in the area sounded like pigs. Grise Fiord's Inuktitut
Inuktitut
Inuktitut or Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, Eastern Canadian Inuit language is the name of some of the Inuit languages spoken in Canada...
name is Aujuittuq which means "place that never thaws."
External links
- http://www.arcticco-op.com/acl-baffin-region-grise-fiord.htm
- CBC News documentary about Grise Fiord that aired in 2008
- http://www.nunavuttourism.com/explore/index.aspx?l=0,2,4,10,39
- http://www.arcticcircle.ca/Baffin/Grise/
- http://mailhub.edu.nu.ca/qikiqtani/orientation/GriseFiord.html