Kuujjuaq, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Kuujjuaq is the largest Inuit
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...

 village in Nunavik
Nunavik
Nunavik comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec...

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, 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...

 with a population of 2,132 as of the 2006 census. This is up roughly 10% from 1,932 as of the 2001 Census. It is the administrative capital of Nunavik
Nunavik
Nunavik comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec...

 and lies on the western shore of the Koksoak River
Koksoak River
The Koksoak River is a river in northern Quebec, Canada, the largest river in the Nunavik region. The Inuit village and region's administrative center Kuujjuaq lies on the shores of the Koksoak, about south from its mouth.The name Koksoak is believed to originate from Moravian missionaries who...

.

Kuujjuaq previously was known as Fort Chimo. Chimo is a mispronunciation of the Inuit
Inuit language
The Inuit language is traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and to some extent in the subarctic in Labrador. The related Yupik languages are spoken in western and southern Alaska and Russian Far East, particularly the Diomede Islands, but is severely endangered in Russia today and...

 phrase saimuuq, "Let's shake hands!" Early fur traders were often welcomed with this phrase which they eventually adopted as the name of the trading post. A fictional account of this naming is found in the novel Ungava by Robert Michael Ballantyne
Robert Michael Ballantyne
R. M. Ballantyne was a Scottish juvenile fiction writer.Born Robert Michael Ballantyne in Edinburgh, he was part of a famous family of printers and publishers. At the age of 16 he went to Canada and was six years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company...

.

History

The first Europeans to have contact with local Inuit were Moravians. On August 25, 1811, after a perilous trip along the coasts of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...

 and Ungava Bay
Ungava Bay
Ungava Bay is a large bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik from Baffin Island. The bay is shaped like a rounded square with a side length of about and has an area of approximately...

, Brother Benjamin Kohlmeister and Brother George Kmoch arrived at an Inuit camp on the east shore of the Koksoak River
Koksoak River
The Koksoak River is a river in northern Quebec, Canada, the largest river in the Nunavik region. The Inuit village and region's administrative center Kuujjuaq lies on the shores of the Koksoak, about south from its mouth.The name Koksoak is believed to originate from Moravian missionaries who...

, a few kilometers downstream from the present-day settlement. Their aim was to convert "the Esquimaux to Christianity." According to the journal kept by Brother Kohlmeister, Inuit of the Koksoak River were very interested in having a Moravian mission in the area.

Around 1830, the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 (HBC), today popularly known simply as « The Bay », started the fur trade business in Nunavik by establishing their first post on the east shore of the Koksoak River, about 5 km downstream from the present-day settlement. The post closed in 1842, then reopened in 1866. At that time, Inuit as well as Montagnais and Naskapi
Naskapi
The Naskapi are the indigenous Innu inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan, which comprises most of what other Canadians refer to as eastern Quebec and Labrador, Canada....

 came to trade at the post.

The construction of a U.S. Air Force base (Crystal 1) in 1942 on the west shore of the Koksoak River, the site of today's settlement, and the occupation of the site by the American army between 1941 and 1945 sped up the development of the community. After the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the United States turned the base over to the Canadian government. In 1948, a Catholic mission was established, followed by a nursing station, a school and a weather station. When the HBC moved upstream closer to the airstrips in 1958, it was followed by the remaining families that still lived across the river at Fort Chimo. In 1961, a co-operative was created.

Geography

Kuujjuaq lies 48 km upstream from Ungava Bay
Ungava Bay
Ungava Bay is a large bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik from Baffin Island. The bay is shaped like a rounded square with a side length of about and has an area of approximately...

. Life in this community involves a close relationship with the river. Its tides regularly change the local landscape, while their rhythm strongly influences the traditional summer activities.

Although the tree line is very close, the boreal forest
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

 is present around Kuujjuaq. Patches of black spruce and larch stand in marshy valleys. Kuujjuaq also witnesses annual migrations of the George River caribou
Migratory Woodland Caribou
The migratory woodland caribou , also known as the forest caribou or woodland caribou , is a subspecies of the caribou...

 herd. These animals pass through the region throughout August and September.

Infrastructure

With two runways at the Kuujjuaq Airport
Kuujjuaq Airport
Kuujjuaq Airport, , is located southwest of Kuujjuaq, Quebec, Canada.-Airlines and destinations:-History:During World War II, the United States established a weather/radio station at this site, code-named "Crystal I"...

, Kuujjuaq is the transportation hub of the entire region. There have been proposals floated by regional and provincial officials to build a road link from the south, linking to the Trans-Taïga Road
Route Transtaïga
The Trans-Taiga Road is an extremely remote wilderness road in northern Quebec, Canada. It is long to Centrale Brisay and another along the Caniapiscau Reservoir, all of it unpaved....

 and also providing access to Schefferville
Schefferville, Quebec
Schefferville is a town in the Canadian province of Quebec. Schefferville is in the heart of the Naskapi and Innu territory in northern Quebec, less than 2 km from the border with Labrador on the north shore of Knob Lake. The town has an incorporated area of . It is located within the...

.

The village boasts a number of hotels, restaurants, stores, arts and crafts shops and a bank.

Notable people

  • Joé Juneau
    Joé Juneau
    Joé Juneau is a retired Canadian professional hockey player and engineer, born in Pont-Rouge, Quebec. He played in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes and the Montreal Canadiens.-Playing career:Originally drafted...

    , founder of a youth hockey program in Kuujjuaq
  • Jeannie Snowball, re-created Ookpik
    Ookpik
    An Ookpik , the Inuktitut word for Snowy Owl, was a popular Inuit handicraft toy. It was a small, souvenir owl with large head and big eyes, a beak, and small black talons. They are often made from wolf fur, sealskin and other traditional materials.-History:The original Ookpik was created in the...

     for a trade fair in Philadelphia
  • Sheila Watt-Cloutier
    Sheila Watt-Cloutier
    Sheila Watt-Cloutier, OC is a Canadian Inuit activist. She has been a political representative for Inuit at the regional, national and international levels, most recently as International Chair for Inuit Circumpolar Council...

    , Canadian Inuit activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee
  • Charlie Watt
    Charlie Watt
    Charlie Watt is a Canadian Senator.A hunter and businessman by profession, Watt is an Inuk and served as Northern officer with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs from 1969 to 1979. He founded the Northern Quebec Inuit Association in the 1970s...

    , Canadian senator and founding president of the Makivik Corporation
    Makivik Corporation
    The Makivik Corporation is the legal representative of Quebec's Inuit people, established in 1978 under the terms of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the agreement that established the institutions of Nunavik...


External links

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