Husky Lakes

Last updated
Husky Lakes
Eskimo Lakes
Imaryuk (Inuktitut)
Liverpool Bay and Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula labelled.jpg
Image of Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula and surrounding bodies of water (north is to the upper right), including the lower Husky Lakes near the top left corner. Both "finger" areas can be seen; the eastern area is labelled.
NWT All Region Locator.svg
Red pog.svg
Husky Lakes
Location in the Northwest Territories
Location Northwest Territories, Canada
Coordinates 69°15′N132°17′W / 69.25°N 132.29°W / 69.25; -132.29
Primary inflows Sitidgi Creek
Primary outflows Liverpool Bay, Beaufort Sea
Catchment area 9,543 km2 (3,685 sq mi)
Basin  countriesCanada
Surface area1,933 km2 (746 sq mi)
Average depth13 m (43 ft)
Max. depth100 m (330 ft)
References [1]

The Husky Lakes are a system of brackish estuarine basins in the Northwest Territories of Canada. [1] [2] Formerly known as the Eskimo Lakes, [3] they are called Imaryuk in Inuvialuktun, the language of the Inuvialuit, the original inhabitants of the area. [2]

The Husky Lakes form a chain of five basins [1] draining toward the northeast and roughly coinciding with the Husky Lakes fault zone (formerly known as the Eskimo Lakes fault zone), which runs along a southwest–northeast axis through the region. [4] The two lower basins are bracketed on either side by inundated tunnel valleys lying between "fingers" (narrow peninsulas) of land. Through the eastern "finger" region (Singiit in Inuvialuktun), the lakes empty into Liverpool Bay, an arm of the Beaufort Sea. [2] Sitidgi Lake, a freshwater lake south of the Husky Lakes, drains into the southernmost basin through a shallow 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) channel called Sitidgi Creek. [1] Together the basins cover an area of 1,933 square kilometres (746 sq mi) and drain an area of 9,543 square kilometres (3,685 sq mi). [1] They average 13 metres (43 ft) in depth with maximum depths not exceeding 100 metres (330 ft). [1] The Husky Lakes lie north of the tree line [5] and vegetation in the area is that of typical Arctic tundra. [2]

At Saunaktuk ("place of bones"), [6] a site in the western "finger" area, [7] remains of at least 35 Inuvialuit women, elderly and children were found dating to the 14th or 15th century. The remains exhibited signs of violence and possibly cannibalism, and are consistent with Inuvialuit oral histories describing a Dene attack at that site. [8]

Today the area around the Husky Lakes remains culturally and economically important to the Inuvialuit of Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik. [1] In the spring, fishing for lake trout, lake whitefish, cod and pike is a major traditional source of food for the Inuvialuit. [9] Bear, goose and duck are also hunted in the spring, but caribou hunting has recently been banned. Access to the area is more difficult in the summer after spring thaw, [9] but this is likely to change after the opening of the extension of the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk, [10] which passes near the western side of the southern lakes. Berry picking (cloudberry, crowberry, blueberry, cranberry) and ptarmigan hunting are popular activities in the fall, and trapping is practiced from late fall through early spring. Cabins have been built around the lakes and there is an outfitter lodge at Saunaktuk. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Canada</span>

Canada has a vast geography that occupies much of the continent of North America, sharing a land border with the contiguous United States to the south and the U.S. state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. Greenland is to the northeast with a shared border on Hans Island. To the southeast Canada shares a maritime boundary with France's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the last vestige of New France. By total area, Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, the difference being due to it having the world's largest proportion of fresh water lakes. Of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, only two are landlocked while the other eleven all directly border one of three oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Territories</span> Territory of Canada

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,127,711.92 km2 (435,412.01 sq mi) and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of the second quarter of 2024 is 44,920. Yellowknife is the capital, most populous community, and the only city in the territory; its population was 20,340 as of the 2021 census. It became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Canada</span> Region of Canada

Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. This area covers about 48 per cent of Canada's total land area, but has less than 0.5 per cent of Canada's population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuvik</span> Arctic town in the Northwest Territories, Canada

Inuvik is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Region, it serves as its administrative and service centre and is home to federal, territorial, and Indigenous government offices, along with the regional hospital and airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackenzie River</span> Largest river system in Canada

The Mackenzie River is a river in the Canadian boreal forest. It forms, along with the Slave, Peace, and Finlay, the longest river system in Canada, and includes the second largest drainage basin of any North American river after the Mississippi.

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

Aklavik is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Until 1961, with a population over 1,500, the community served as the regional administrative centre for the territorial government.

Inuvialuktun comprises several Inuit language varieties spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by Canadian Inuit who call themselves Inuvialuit. Some dialects and sub-dialects are also spoken in Nunavut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuinnaqtun</span> Inuit language of Canada

Inuinnaqtun, is an Inuit language. It is spoken in the central Canadian Arctic. It is related very closely to Inuktitut, and some scholars, such as Richard Condon, believe that Inuinnaqtun is more appropriately classified as a dialect of Inuktitut. The government of Nunavut recognises Inuinnaqtun as an official language in addition to Inuktitut, and together sometimes referred to as Inuktut. It is spoken in the Northwest Territories as well and is recognised as an official language of the territory in addition to Inuvialuktun and Inuktitut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuvialuit</span> Inuit subgroup

The Inuvialuit or Western Canadian Inuit are Inuit who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They, like all other Inuit, are descendants of the Thule who migrated eastward from Alaska. Their homeland – the Inuvialuit Settlement Region – covers the Arctic Ocean coastline area from the Alaskan border, east through the Beaufort Sea and beyond the Amundsen Gulf which includes some of the western Canadian Arctic Islands, as well as the inland community of Aklavik and part of Yukon. The land was demarked in 1984 by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

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

Tuktoyaktuk is an Inuvialuit hamlet near the Mackenzie River delta in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, at the northern terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway. One of six Inuvialuit communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, it is commonly known by its first syllable, Tuk. It lies north of the Arctic Circle on the Arctic Ocean, and is the only place on the Arctic Ocean connected to the rest of Canada by road. Known as Port Brabant after British colonization, in 1950 it became Canada's first Indigenous settlement to reclaim its traditional name.

The Anderson River is in the Northwest Territories in northern Canada. It originates in lakes northwest of Great Bear Lake; its headwaters are possibly on the north side of Colville Lake in the vicinity of the hamlet of Colville Lake. It flows north and west in the area between the Mackenzie and Coppermine Rivers. Its mouth is on the Beaufort Sea on the Arctic Ocean near the eastern end of Liverpool Bay at about 70 degrees north latitude. Its main tributary is the Carnwath River. Originally known as the Beghula River it was renamed to the Anderson River in 1857 by Roderick MacFarlane after James Anderson, both of the Hudson's Bay Company. Anderson was the Chief Factor in the Mackenzie District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nunakput</span> Provincial electoral district in Northwest Territories, Canada

Nunakput is a territorial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Its name translates to "our land" in Inuvialuktun, and its area covers much of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in Inuit Nunangat. The district consists of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sallirmiutun</span> Inuit language dialect

Sallirmiutun is the dialect of Inuvialuktun spoken by the Siglit, an Inuit group of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is mainly used in the Inuvialuit communities of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour and Tuktoyaktuk. Sallirmiutun was once the principal dialect of the Mackenzie River delta, nearby parts of the coast and Arctic Ocean islands, but the number of speakers fell dramatically following outbreaks of new diseases in the 19th century and for many years Sallirmiutun was believed to be completely extinct. It was only in the 1980s that outsiders realised that it was still spoken.

<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">Inuit</span> Indigenous peoples of northern North America

Inuit are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon (traditionally), Alaska, and Chukotsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo–Aleut languages, also known as Inuit-Yupik-Unangan, and also as Eskaleut. Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate used in Nunavut.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuvialuit Settlement Region</span> Region in Canada

The Inuvialuit Settlement Region, abbreviated as ISR, located in Canada's western Arctic, was designated in 1984 in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement by the Government of Canada for the Inuvialuit people. It spans 90,650 km2 (35,000 sq mi) of land, mostly above the tree line, and includes several subregions: the Beaufort Sea, the Mackenzie River delta, the northern portion of Yukon, and the northwest portion of the Northwest Territories. The ISR includes both Crown Lands and Inuvialuit Private Lands. Most of the ISR is represented by Nunakput, the territorial electoral district, meaning "our land" in Inuvialuktun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuit Nunangat</span> Inuit regions of Canada

Inuit Nunangat refers to the land, water, and ice of the homeland of Inuit in Canada. This Arctic homeland consists of four northern Canadian regions called the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the territory Nunavut (ᓄᓇᕗᑦ), Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut of Newfoundland and Labrador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendall Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary</span>

The Kendall Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary (KIBS) is a migratory bird sanctuary in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located on Kendall Island and its surrounding area in Mackenzie Bay at the northern tip of the Mackenzie River Delta. A seasonal sanctuary for more than 60,000 shorebirds, it is one of five bird sanctuaries within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. The area that is now known as the KIBS is a traditional Inuvialuit whaling site.

Agnes Nanogak Goose was an Inuk artist from Holman (Ulukhaktok), Northwest Territories, Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Roux, M.-J.; Sparling, P.; Felix, J.; Harwood, L. A. (2014). Ecological Assessment of Husky Lakes and Sitidgi Lake, Northwest Territories, 2000-2004 (PDF) (Technical report). Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 3071. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hoyt, Andrea Johanne (2001). Opportunities for integrated management: a perspective on Inuvialuit attitudes towards development and subsistence land use in the Husky Lakes area (PDF) (M.N.R.M.). University of Manitoba. pp. 1–5. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Eskimo Lakes". Canadian Geographical Names Data Base . October 6, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  4. ↑ Hadlari, T.; Millar, R. A.; Lane, L. S. (2020). The Eskimo Lakes fault zone renamed Husky Lakes fault zone, Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, Northwest Territories, Open File 8740. Ottawa: Natural Resources Canada. pp. 1–4. doi:10.4095/326948.
  5. ↑ "14.2 Position of treeline". NWT State of the Environment Report. Environment and Natural Resources, GNWT. May 29, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  6. ↑ Kocho-Schellenberg, John-Erik (2010). Understanding the Evolution of Beluga Entrapment Co-Management in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region Using Social Network Analysis (PDF) (M.N.R.M.). University of Manitoba. p. 8. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  7. ↑ Betts, Matthew W. (2009). "Chronicling Siglit identities: economy, practice, and ethnicity in the Canadian Western Arctic" (PDF). Alaska Journal of Anthropology. 7 (2): 7. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Melbye, Jerry; Fairgrieve, Scott I. (1994). "A Massacre and Possible Cannibalism in the Canadian Arctic: New Evidence from the Saunaktuk Site (NgTn-1)". Arctic Anthropology . 31 (2): 57–77. JSTOR   40316364.
  9. 1 2 3 "Husky Lakes Special Cultural Area Criteria" (PDF). Inuvialuit Land Administration. June 2011. p. 6. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  10. ↑ Gordon Jr., James (April 24, 2012). "Husky Lakes Survey 2012" (PDF). Environmental Impact Review Board, Inuvialuit Settlement Region . Retrieved April 25, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.