Kuuvik River Expedition Overview -- Nunavik

The Inuit territory of Nunavik is a vast Arctic wilderness.  Nunavik Inuit and their predecessors have inhabited the region for more than 4,000 years.  The Nunavik Inuit speak Inuktitut, an Eskimo-Aleut vernacular that is the first language of about 65,000 people who live in Greenland, Canada, Siberia and Alaska.  Approximately 10,000 Inuit live in Nunavik, an area north of the 55th parallel that is larger than California.  Nunavik is a pristine natural realm of tundra, rivers, taiga forest, lakes, mountains, and oceanic expanses.  The region is a destination of choice for discerning adventure travellers.  

The only way to access Nunavik year-round is via airplane.  In the summer and fall, when the coasts are ice-free, boating to the region is also possible, and that is when freighters regularly supply Nunavik residents with provisions.  There are no roads to Nunavik, nor amongst the region’s fourteen settlements that are inhabited year-round.  Each of the fourteen Nunavik communities is equipped with a modern municipal infrastructure that is designed for life in the North. The community of  Kuujjuaq, built-up by the American military during World War II, is the regional capital of Nunavik.

The Inuit of Nunavik are Canadian citizens, and up until the early 1900s the region of Nunavik was a part of the District of Ungava within Canada’s Northwest Territories.  In 1912 the Parliament of Canada transferred jurisdiction over Nunavik to the province of Quebec, predicated in part upon the caveat that any outstanding indigenous rights to the territory are to be effectively settled.  The Inuit of Nunavik, who call themselves Nunavimmiut, subsequently created the Makivik Corporation to represent their interests, promote sustainable development, and negotiate for Inuit self-governance.  In the Inuktitut language, the name Nunavik means “place to live”. 

Nunavik is blessed with plentiful natural resources.  The largest commercial operation in Nunavik, owned by the Swiss-headquartered corporation Xstrata, is the Raglan Nickel mine.  In 2006 Xstrata presented the Makivik Corporation with a cheque for C$9.3 million, per its commitment to transfer 4.5% of the mine’s annual operating profits to the Inuit.  Beyond such headline mineral operations, Nunavik also benefits from its fishing, hunting and tourism industries.  Wildlife abounds in Nunavik, for instance, the largest herds of caribou on Earth -- close to a million head -- roam the Nunavik wilds.  Incidentally, in 1922 the Nunavik region was the setting for the first ever feature-length film documentary, which was entitled “Nanook of the North”.