Inukjuak

Inukjuak (Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᒃᔪᐊᒃ) is a small village of 1800 (2021) in Nunavik in the far north of Quebec.

Understand

'The Giant' is the literal translation of the word Inukjuak, but originally it was Inurjuat, which means "many people".

The many archeological sites near Inukjuak indicate that the area has long been inhabited by the Inuit people (formerly called "Eskimos").

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Révillon Frères company set up a fur trading post in Inukjuak called Port Harrison.

Climate

Inukjuak has a polar climate with a July average of 9.4 °C (48.9 °F) and February average of −25.8 °C (−14.4 °F). Temperatures in Inukjuak are below freezing from mid-October to late May – the pronounced seasonal lag means May averages colder than October, April colder than November, and March colder than December. During the early winter snowfall is very heavy, averaging 50 cm (20 in) in November but tapering off somewhat as the freezing of Hudson Bay completes and reduces the availability of moisture.

Snow usually melts when temperatures rise above freezing late in May, with typically only 7 cm (2.8 in) remaining on the ground at the beginning of June. Summer weather in Inukjuak is generally damp and unsettled, with rainfall especially frequent in August and September as the bay thaws completely: these months expect rain on more than half the days. Occasional spells of hot weather occur when the wind drives air from the hotter continent onto the coast. By the end of September temperatures are already falling to near freezing and October sees the beginning of the long winter and a return to heavy snow.

Websites

• Official page

Get in

It is not accessible by road, but by boat in summer and year-round by air through Inukjuak Airport.

By plane

Air Inuit has flights to 1 Inukjuak Airport (YPH  ^IATA). (updated Feb 2022) from Akulivik, Ivujivik, Kuujjuaq, Kuujjuarapik, Montreal–Trudeau, Puvirnituq, Salluit, Sanikiluaq and Umiujaq.

See

• 1 Musée Daniel Weetaluktuk (Daniel Weetaluktuk Museum), ☏ +1 819 254-8277, museum@nvinukjuak.ca. A museum with two exhibitions showcasing Inuit arts and crafts, traditional tools, hunting and fishing gear among many other Indigenous tools. (updated Feb 2022)

Eat

• There is some food at the Inukjuak Co-op Hôtel

Sleep

• 1 Inukjuak Co-op Hôtel, ☏ +1 819-254-8306. Check-in: 4PM, check-out: 10AM. 23 rooms. Free WiFi, cable TV, coffee and tea in dining room, and access to laundry room from 5-9PM. $235. (updated Feb 2024)