Bloody Falls

Last updated

Middle of rapids Bloody Falls.jpg
Middle of rapids

Bloody Falls (or Bloody Fall, or Kugluk, meaning "waterfall" in Inuinnaqtun [1] ) is a waterfall on the Coppermine River, in the Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park of Nunavut, Canada. It was the site of the Bloody Falls Massacre in 1771 and the murder of two priests by Uloqsaq and Sinnisiak, two Copper Inuit men in 1913. [2]

The nearest community, Kugluktuk, Nunavut, is 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast. [1] The traditional campsite at the falls is known as Onoagahiovik ("the place where you stay all night") because it's a good fishing area. [1]

History

Canoers' campsite during portage around rapids Bloody Falls Campsite.jpg
Canoers' campsite during portage around rapids

Historically, this area was occupied by the Kogluktogmiut subgroup of Copper Inuit [3] dating back to 1500 CE. Previously, it was occupied by Paleo-Inuit around 1300 BCE and then by Indigenous caribou hunters between 500 BCE and 500 CE. [4]

In 1978, the portion of the Territorial Park northwest of the Coppermine River was designated the Bloody Falls National Historic Site of Canada, as the archaeological remains of pre-contact hunting and fishing sites in the area form a record of the presence of Pre-Dorset, Thule, First Nation and Inuit peoples over the last 3000 years. [5]

In 1996, Dene and Inuit met to hold a healing ceremony to reconcile their historical differences. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitikmeot Region</span> Region in Nunavut, Canada

Kitikmeot Region is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boothia Peninsula, together with King William Island and the southern portion of Prince of Wales Island. The regional centre is Cambridge Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambridge Bay</span> Hamlet in Nunavut, Canada

Cambridge Bay is a hamlet located on Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest settlement on Victoria Island. Cambridge Bay is named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, while the traditional Inuinnaqtun name for the area is Ikaluktutiak or Iqaluktuuttiaq meaning "good fishing place".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coppermine River</span> River in Canada

The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave and Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is 845 kilometres (525 mi) long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake, and flows generally north to Coronation Gulf, an arm of the Arctic Ocean. The river freezes in winter but may still flow under the ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kugluktuk</span> Hamlet in Nunavut, Canada

Kugluktuk, known as Coppermine until 1 January 1996, is a hamlet at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island. It is Nunavut's westernmost community, near the border with the Northwest Territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulukhaktok</span> Hamlet in Northwest Territories, Canada

Ulukhaktok and known until 1 April 2006 as Holman or Holman Island) is a small hamlet on the west coast of Victoria Island, in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut</span> Abandoned settlement in Nunavut, Canada

Bathurst Inlet, is a small Inuit community located in Bathurst Inlet in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada.

The Canadian territory of Nunavut covers about 1.9 million square kilometres of land and water including part of the mainland, most of the Arctic islands, and all of the islands in Hudson Bay, James Bay, and Ungava Bay which belonged to the Northwest Territories. This makes it the fifth largest country subdivision in the world. If Nunavut were a country, it would rank 13th in area, after the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nunavut has land borders with Manitoba, the Northwest Territories on several islands as well as the mainland, and a tiny land border with Newfoundland and Labrador on Killiniq Island. Additionally, Nunavut has a land border with Greenland on Hans Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of the Northwest Territories</span>

The Northwest Territories is a territory in Northern Canada, specifically in Northwestern Canada between Yukon Territory and Nunavut including part of Victoria Island, Melville Island, and other islands on the western Arctic Archipelago. Originally a much wider territory enclosing most of central and northern Canada, the Northwest Territories was created in 1870 from the Hudson's Bay Company's holdings that were sold to Canada from 1869-1870. In addition, Alberta and Saskatchewan were formed from the territory in 1905. In 1999, it was divided again: the eastern portion became the new territory of Nunavut. Yellowknife stands as its largest city and capital. It has a population of 42,800 and has an area of 532,643 sq mi (1,379,540 km2). The current territory lies west of Nunavut, north of latitude 60° north, and east of Yukon.

The Bloody Falls massacre was an incident that took place during Hudson's Bay Company employee Samuel Hearne's exploration of the Coppermine River for copper deposits near modern-day Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada on 17 July 1771. Hearne's original travelogue is now lost, and the narrative that became famous was published after Hearne's death with substantial editorializing. The narrative states that Chipewyan and "Copper Indian" Dene men led by Hearne's guide and companion Matonabbee attacked a group of Copper Inuit camped by rapids approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) upstream from the mouth of the Coppermine River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park</span> Territorial park in Nunavut, Canada

Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park is located about 15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada. The 10 ha park is situated around the Bloody Falls on the Coppermine River and was listed as a national historic site in 1978.

Iqalugaarjuup Nunanga Territorial Park is a park located 8–10 km (5.0–6.2 mi) northwest of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Canada. The park lies in a valley that straddles the Meliadine River. Rankin Inlet's gravel road provides access to the park directly on the south side by foot or vehicle.

Asger Rye "Red" Pedersen is a former territorial-level Canadian politician. In 1953, he got a job in the Canadian Arctic with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. In the following year, he was sent to Perry River (Kuugjuak) to assist Stephen Angulalik, the Ahiarmiut Inuit owner of the trading post, with the financial records, inventory and ordering, as Angulalik spoke no English. In 1957, Angulalik sold the Perry River post to the HBC and Pedersen was appointed manager. Angulalik returned to the post after resolving legal problems and worked alongside Pedersen; they became lifelong friends. He was, at one time, married to Lena Pedersen and their grandson, Calvin Pedersen was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in July 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper Inuit</span> Inuit in Canada

Copper Inuit, also known as Inuinnait and Kitlinermiut, are a Canadian Inuit group who live north of the tree line, in what is now the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut and in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories. Most of them historically lived in the area around Coronation Gulf, on Victoria Island, and southern Banks Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiillinnguyaq</span> Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada

Kiillinnguyaq, formerly the Kent Peninsula, is a large Arctic peninsula, almost totally surrounded by water, in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut. Were it not for a 8.0 km (5 mi) isthmus at the southeast corner it would be a long island parallel to the coast. From the isthmus it extends 169 km (105 mi) westward into the Coronation Gulf. To the south, Melville Sound separates it from the mainland. To the north is Dease Strait and then Victoria Island. To the west is Coronation Gulf and to the east, Queen Maud Gulf. Cape Flinders marks the western tip of the peninsula, Cape Franklin is at the northwestern point, and Hiiqtinniq, formerly Cape Alexander marks the northeastern point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuit culture</span> Culture of the Inuit in the Arctic and Subarctic region

The Inuit are an indigenous people of the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America. The ancestors of the present-day Inuit are culturally related to Iñupiat, and Yupik, and the Aleut who live in the Aleutian Islands of Siberia and Alaska. The term culture of the Inuit, therefore, refers primarily to these areas; however, parallels to other Eskimo groups can also be drawn.

Kogluktogmiut were a geographically defined Copper Inuit subgroup in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. They were located by Bloody Falls, a waterfall on the lower course of the Coppermine River in the Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park, notable for the Bloody Falls Massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kangiryuarmiut</span>

The Kangiryuarmiut are an Inuvialuit group, culturally and historically related to the Copper Inuit. They were historically located on Victoria Island in the areas of Prince Albert Sound, Cape Baring, and central Victoria island. They often travelled seasonally around their traditional territory including to Banks Island, both south to Nelson Head and as far north as Mercy Bay to collect raw materials from the wreck of HMS Investigator. Archaeologists have also found many sites left by Kangiryuarmiut and their ancestors in what is now Aulavik National Park. Today, many Kangiryurmiut still live on Victoria Island, in the hamlet of Uluhaktok, now within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

Kangiryuatjagmiut were a Copper Inuit subgroup. They lived around Minto Inlet, and between Minto inlet and Walker Bay.

Pallirmiut were a geographically defined Copper Inuit group in the Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut. They were located by the mouth of the Rae River (Pallirk) during the spring. Some stayed there during summers, while others joined the Kogluktogmiut at the Bloody Falls summer salmon fishery. Pallirmiut wintered on west central Coronation Gulf, and went inland when the snow was gone, carrying packs rather than using sleds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornaday River</span> River in Canada

Hornaday River is a waterway located above the Arctic Circle on the mainland of Northern Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Kugluk (Bloody Falls) Territorial Park". Hamlet of Kugluktuk. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  2. Stern, Pamela (2004). Historical dictionary of the Inuit . Lanham: Scarecrow Press. p.  149. ISBN   0-8108-5058-3 . Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  3. Stefansson, Vilhjalmur (1914). The Stefánsson-Anderson Arctic Expedition of the American Museum: Preliminary Ethnological Report. New York: The Trustees of the American Museum. p. 27. OCLC   13626409.
  4. McGhee, Robert (25 February 2012). "Bloody Falls". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  5. Bloody Falls National Historic Site of Canada . Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada . Retrieved October 29, 2013.

67°44′37″N115°22′03″W / 67.74361°N 115.36750°W / 67.74361; -115.36750 (Bloody Falls)