GRISE FIORD, NUNAVUT

'Grise Fiord', (Inuktitut: 'Aujuittuq', Inuktitut syllabics: 'ᐊᐅᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ') (2006 population 141 ^[1]) is a small Inuit hamlet in the territory of Nunavut.

Contents

Geography

Transportation

Climate

History

Settlement

Telephone Network

Naming

See also

References

Other Settlements on Ellesmere Island

External links

Geography

Grise Fiord is the northernmost civilian settlement in North America, but was eclipsed by Alert 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 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.

Transportation

Grise Fiord is connected to the rest of the world by Grise Fiord Airport.

Climate

The climate in Grise Fiord is extremely cold. Grise Fiord has an arctic climate, which means that there are less than 250 mm precipitation, and temperature stays well below zero degree Celsius for more than eight months of the year, and below +10°C the other months.
The lowest recorded temperature in Grise Fiord was -62.2 °C. The highest was 22.3 °C.

History

Settlement

The settlement was created by the Canadian government in the year 1953 to assert sovereignty in the area during the Cold War. Three Inuit families from the Ungava Peninsula in northern Quebec were relocated and promised homes and game to hunt, but the relocated people discovered no buildings and very little familiar wildlife. They also had to endure weeks of daytime darkness in the winter and sunlight in the nights during summers, unlike northern Quebec. They were told that they would be returned home after a year if they wished, but this offer was later withdrawn as it would damage Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area and the Inuit were forced to stay.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 learnt the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 square kilometres each year.
In 1993, the Canadian government held hearings to investigate the relocation program. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples called the relocation “one of the worst human rights violations in the history of Canada.” The government paid $10 million CAD to the survivors and their families, but as of 2007 has yet to apologize.[1]

Telephone Network

In 1970, Bell Canada established what was then the world's most northerly telephone exchange (operated since 1992 by Northwestel).

Naming

Grise Fiord was named by Otto Sverdrup from Norway. The name means "pig inlet" in Norwegian.
Grise Fiord's Inuit name is "Aujuittuq" which means "place that never thaws."

See also

★ Northernmost settlements

References

1. 2006 census


★ ''The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953-55 Relocation'' by René Dussault and George Erasmus, produced by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, published by Canadian Government Publishing, 1994 (190 pages)[2]

★ ''The Long Exile: A Tale of Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic'' by Melanie McGrath, published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2006 (268 pages) Hardcover: ISBN 0007157967 Paperback: ISBN 0007157975

Other Settlements on Ellesmere Island

★ Alert, Nunavut

★ Eureka, Nunavut

External links

★ Grise Fiord HomePage

★ Book review of ''The Long Exile''