Traces of prehistoric settlements have been found on the south coast of Ellesmere Island, and there is also evidence of Thule culture. The "recent" history of Ausuittuq (Grise Fiord), the northernmost Canadian Inuit community, began in 1953 when the Canadian government moved four Inuit families from the east coast of Hudson Bay to the south-east
of Ellesmere Island, without taking account of the fact that these people were accustomed to quite different living conditions. Here, only 1500 km (930 mi.) from the North Pole, average temperatures in March lie between -35°C and -25°C (-31°F and -13°F), and in July between 0°C and 6°C (32°F and 43°F), and winter is spent in total darkness, making the climate even more inhospitable to man than Labrador; to make matters worse, while on Hudson Bay rivers and lakes provide drinking water all the year round, on Ellesmere drift ice has to be melted down for this purpose, and only an expert can tell which is freshwater ice. The reasons behind the move were a certain colonialist attitude on the part of the government linked with a growing unfavorable situation in the Hudson Bay region brought about by increases in population and a resultant strain on resources. After the Québec Inuit had spent a winter under very difficult conditions a family from Pond Inlet on Baffin Island who were familiar with the conditions was sent to help them. In spite of the good conditions for hunting - the "Northwest Territories Explorer's Guide" for 1986 stated "Inuit families moved here to settle because of the rich stocks of animals to hunt ..." - the Inuits never felt at home here and after nearly forty years many considered leaving. The two Inuit groups have failed to integrate and have retained their separate languages and customs; even as late as 1962, when Grise Fiord was founded as a settlement, their houses were kept separate. In spite of Grise Fjord being a show-piece settlement with a number of advantages - relatively well provided with the benefits of "civilization" - these are more than offset by the disadvantages of a small, still somewhat "artificial" settlement with a number of social problems, not the least of which is finding a suitable spouse.
At present Ausuittuq ("place where it never thaws") has rather more than one hundred inhabitants and is trying to share in the benefits of Arctic tourism; again in the words of the "Explorer's Guide" it offers "the most beautiful landscape in the NWT" and tours by canoe and snowmobile to view Arctic birds and polar bears! Ausuittuq can be reached by air from Yellowknife and Iqaluit via Resolute Bay.
Print this page
Add to Favorites
