Tuktoyaktuk
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Canadian English Template:Infobox settlement
Tuktoyaktuk (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; Template:Langx Template:IPA, Template:Lit)<ref name="pwhc"/> 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.<ref name=hwy>Montgomery, Marc. "Canada now officially connected by road-coast to coast to coast", CBC Radio, 15 November 2017. Retrieved on 15 November 2017.</ref><ref>Lamb, David. "Driving to the top of the world: Exploring Canada's new Arctic highway", CBC, 18 April 2017. Retrieved on 15 November 2017.</ref> One of six Inuvialuit communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, it is commonly known by its first syllable, Tuk (Template:IPAc-en).<ref>Welcome To The Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk Website</ref> 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.<ref name=hwy /> Known as Port Brabant after British colonization, in 1950 it became Canada's first Indigenous settlement to reclaim its traditional name.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Tuktoyaktuk is the anglicized form of the native Inuvialuit place-name, meaning "resembling a caribou". According to legend, a woman looked on as some caribou, common at the site, waded into the water and turned into stone. Today, reefs resembling petrified caribou are said to be visible at low tide along the shore of the town.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
No formal archaeological sites exist today, the Inuvialuit have used the settlement for centuries as a place to harvest caribou and beluga whales. Tuktoyaktuk's natural harbour was also historically used to transport supplies to other Inuvialuit settlements.
Between 1890 and 1910, many of Tuktoyaktuk's native families were wiped out in flu epidemics brought in by American whalers. In subsequent years, the Dene people, as well as residents of Herschel Island, settled here. By 1937, the Hudson's Bay Company had established a trading post. On 9 September 1944, a windstorm blew through the community, severely damaged several buildings and schooners docked at the harbour, and killed 11 people en route back from a reindeer station on the Anderson River on the schooner Cally.<ref>The Moccasin Telegraph, March 1945</ref>
Radomes were installed beginning in the 1950s as part of the Distant Early Warning Line, to monitor air traffic and detect possible Soviet intrusions during the Cold War. The settlement's location (and harbour) made Tuk important in resupplying the civilian contractors and Air Force personnel along the DEW Line. In 1947, Tuktoyaktuk became the site of one of the first government day schools, designed to forcibly assimilate Inuit youth into mainstream Canadian culture.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Tuktoyaktuk eventually became a base for the oil and natural gas exploration of the Beaufort Sea. Large industrial buildings remain from the busy period following the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries 1973 oil embargo and 1979 summertime fuel shortage. This brought many more outsiders into the region.
In late 2010, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency announced that it would undertake an environmental study of a proposed all-weather road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Work on the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway started on 8 January 2014, and the highway opened on 15 November 2017.<ref name=hwy />
Geography
Tuktoyaktuk is on Kugmallit Bay, near the Mackenzie River Delta, and is on the Arctic tree line.
Tuktoyaktuk is the gateway for exploring Pingo Canadian Landmark, an area protecting eight nearby pingos in a region that contains about 1,350 of these Arctic ice-dome hills. The landmark comprises an area roughly Template:Cvt, just a few kilometres west of the community, and includes Ibyuk Pingo, Canada's highest, and the world's second-highest, pingo, at Template:Cvt.<ref name=parkscanada>Template:Cite web</ref>
Employment
Many residents continue traditional activities such as hunting, fishing, and trapping. Hunting caribou occurs in the autumn, ducks and geese in both spring and autumn, while fishing takes place all year-round. Other activities include collecting driftwood, berry picking, and reindeer herding. Most productivity today comes from tourism and transportation. Marine Transportation Services (MTS) is a major employer in the region, and the fossil fuel industry continues to employ explorers and other workers.
In 1962, the government-sponsored Tuktoyaktuk Fur Garment Project started; it provided vocational training in industrial sewing and commercial production of items for sale, including parkas, mitts, slippers, mukluks, hats, wall hangings, place mats and dolls produced by local women that were sold in the Tuktoyaktuk Fur Garment Shop. The shop closed in the 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Demographics
Template:Historical populations In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Tuktoyaktuk had a population of 937 living in 285 of its 334 total private dwellings, a change of Template:Percentage from its 2016 population of 898. With a land area of Template:Cvt, it had a population density of Template:Pop density in 2021.<ref name=2021census>Template:Cite web</ref>
The average annual personal income in 2015 was $21,984 Canadian and the average family income was $55,424. Local languages are Inuinnaqtun (Inuvialuktun) and English with a few North Slavey and Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib) speakers. Tuktoyaktuk is predominately Indigenous (90.8%) with Inuit (Inuvialuit) making up 88.0%, 9.2% non-Aboriginal, 1.7% First Nations and 1.1% giving multiple Indigenous backgrounds.<ref name="2016census"/>
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Climate
Tuktoyaktuk has a subarctic climate (Dfc), bordering on a tundra climate (ET), as the July mean temperature is barely above Template:Cvt. Since the Arctic Ocean freezes over for much of the year, the maritime influence is minimized, resulting in cold winters and a strong seasonal lag in spring. This results in colder Aprils than Octobers and much colder Mays than Septembers. March is also colder than November.
Due to the dominance of cold air, Tuktoyaktuk has a lower precipitation rate than many desert climates. Still, the cold temperatures mean it receives more than a metre of snow a year on average. Owing to the thousands of kilometres of land south of Tuktoyaktuk, southerly winds can sometimes push warmer air into the region. Rex blocks can cause an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure to form at higher latitudes, allowing heat to build consistently.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As a result, temperatures well above average can occur in summer despite the cold surrounding waters.
During a bout of exceptionally hot Arctic weather,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tuktoyaktuk was among the numerous northern communities that witnessed extreme temperatures, reaching a high of Template:Cvt on 4 July 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its overall highest temperature of Template:Cvt was recorded on 2 July 1998.<ref name= "ZUB91-20 normals"/> Tuktoyaktuk's climate stands in stark contrast to those of Northern Norway at similar latitudes, but is in many ways less extreme than that of Eastern Canada at lower latitudes, where summers are cooler, moderated by the cool waters of the Hudson Bay.Template:Citation needed
Template:Tuktoyaktuk weatherbox
Transportation
Tuktoyaktuk/James Gruben Airport links Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik. The Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road formerly provided road access to Inuvik in the winter. In 2017, the $300-million Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway opened.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=hwy /> It provides all-season access to Inuvik, which connects to the rest of the highway networks in Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The airport previously had scheduled service from Inuvik operated by Aklak Air. Service was cancelled in 2018 after the opening of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway created a permanent link between the communities and resulted in a drop in demand for air service.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Threats to Canadian Arctic sovereignty
An unannounced visit by Polar Research Institute of China’s Xue Long to Tuktoyaktuk in 1999 has raised concerns for Canadian sovereignty and security in the Arctic region.<ref name=ParliamentOfCanada20050308> Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=EdmontonJournal20071118>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=NunatsiaqNews>Template:Cite news</ref>
In popular culture
- In the third episode of Jesse James Is a Dead Man, originally aired on 14 June 2009 on Spike TV, Jesse James rides his motorcycle from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk to drop off medical supplies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- On 3 September 1995, the Molson Brewing Company arranged for several popular rock bands to perform in Tuktoyaktuk as a publicity stunt promoting its new ice-brewed beer. During the months leading up to concert, radio stations across North America ran contests in which they gave away free tickets. Dubbed The Molson Ice Polar Beach Party, it featured Hole, Metallica,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Moist, Cake, and Veruca Salt. Canadian filmmaker Albert Nerenberg made a documentary about the concert, Invasion of the Beer People.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Tuktoyaktuk is featured in the Discovery Channel TV show Ice Road Truckers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The imaginary Tuktoyaktuk University, abbreviated "TUK-U", has been "emblazoned on hundreds of thousands of T-shirts that travelled the world".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Template:Communities of Northwest Territories Template:Authority control