View source for Kuujjuaq

{{About||the Inuit reserved land of the same name|Kuujjuaq (Inuit reserved land)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=March 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
 | name                 = Kuujjuaq
 | official_name        = 
 | native_name          = ᑰᑦᔪᐊᖅ
 | native_name_lang     = ike
 | settlement_type      = [[Northern village municipality (Quebec)|Northern village municipality]]
 | image_skyline        = Kuujjuaq1.JPG
 | imagesize            =
 | image_caption        = Kuujjuaq
 | image_flag           =
 | nickname             =
 | motto                =
 | image_map            =
 | mapsize              =
 | map_caption            = 
 | pushpin_map            = Canada Quebec#Canada
 | pushpin_label_position =above
 | pushpin_mapsize      = 197
 | pushpin_map_caption    = 
 | coordinates          = {{coord|58|06|N|68|24|W|region:CA-QC|notes=<ref>{{Cite cgndb|EJJIZ|Kuujjuaqa}}</ref>|display=inline,title}}
 | coor_pinpoint        = Hôtel de ville Katittavik, 400, chemin de l'Aéroport<ref name="mamrot"/>
 | coordinates_footnotes= <ref name="toponymie"/>
 | subdivision_type         = Country
 | subdivision_name         = Canada
 | subdivision_type1        = [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Province]]
 | subdivision_name1        = [[Quebec]]
 | subdivision_type4    = [[List of regions of Quebec|Region]]
 | subdivision_name4    = [[Nord-du-Québec]]<br/>[[Nunavik]]
 | subdivision_type5    = [[Territory equivalent to a regional county municipality|TE]]
 | subdivision_name5    = [[Kativik (territory)|Kativik]]
 | established_title    =
 | established_date     =
 | established_title1   = Constituted
 | established_date1    = December 29, 1979
 | established_title2   =
 | established_date2    =
 | government_footnotes = <ref name="mamrot"/>
 | government_type      =
 | leader_title         = Mayor
 | leader_name          = Mary Johannes 
 | leader_title1        = [[List of Canadian federal electoral districts|Federal riding]]
 | leader_name1         = [[Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou]]
 | leader_title2        = [[List of Quebec provincial electoral districts|Prov. riding]]
 | leader_name2         = [[Ungava (provincial electoral district)|Ungava]]
 | area_footnotes       = <ref name="mamrot"/><ref name="cp2021"/>
 | area_total_km2       = 385.70
 | area_land_km2        = 289.97
 | area_water_km2       =
 | elevation_footnotes  =
 | elevation_m          =
 | population_footnotes = <ref name="cp2021"/>
 | population_total     = 2668
 | population_as_of     = 2021
 | population_density_km2 = 9.2
 | population_blank1_title= Change&nbsp;<small>(2016–21)</small>
 | population_blank1    = {{decrease}}3.1%
 | population_blank2_title= Dwellings
 | population_blank2    = 1253
 | timezone             = [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
 | utc_offset           = −05:00
 | timezone_DST         = EDT
 | utc_offset_DST       = −04:00
 | postal_code_type     = [[Canadian postal code|Postal code(s)]]
 | postal_code          = [[List of J postal codes of Canada|J0M 1C0]]
 | area_code            = [[Area code 819|819]]
 | website              = {{URL|www.nvkuujjuaq.ca}}
 | footnotes            =
}}
{{Contains special characters|Canadian}}

'''Kuujjuaq''' ({{IPA|iu|kuːtjuɑq|}}; {{langx|iu|ᑰᑦᔪᐊᖅ|i=no}} or {{langx|iu|ᑰᔾᔪᐊᖅ|i=no|label=none|lit=Great River}}),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avataq.qc.ca/iu/Nunavimmiuts/node_1723/node_1728/node_1770|title=ᑰᑦᔪᐊᖅ|author=Taamusi Qumaq|date=1992|website=Avataq|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref> is a former [[Hudson's Bay Company]] outpost at the mouth of the [[Koksoak River]] on [[Ungava Bay]] that has become the largest [[northern village (Quebec)|northern village]] ([[Inuit]] community) in the [[Nunavik]] region of [[Quebec]], Canada. It is the administrative capital of the [[Kativik Regional Government]]. Its population was 2,668 as of the [[Canada 2021 Census|2021 census]].

{{anchor|Toponymy|Etymology|Name}}

==Names==
Kuujjuaq was founded as Fort Good Hope in 1830 but in 1831 changed its name to '''Fort Chimo''',{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} an anglicization of an [[Inuit languages|Inuit]] word {{lang|iu|ᓭᒨᖅ}} {{lang|iu|saimuuq}}, meaning "Let's shake hands" and also likely to avoid confusion with [[Fort Good Hope]] operated by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC) in the [[Northwest Territories]]. As this was a common greeting locals used with the HBC [[fur trade]]rs, they adopted it as the name of their [[trading post]]. A fictional account of this naming is given in the 1857 novel ''Ungava'' by [[R. M. Ballantyne]], where it is taken from a girl character's beloved dog.{{sfnp|Ballantyne|1857}} On 5 February 1980, the name was changed to Kuujjuaq,{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} the Inuit name for the Koksoak River.

It has also been known informally as Koksoak and Washgagen.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}}

==History==
[[File:Campement Fort Chimo 1909.jpg|thumb|left|[[Inuit]] encamped near Fort Chimo (1909)]]

The first Europeans to have contact with local [[Inuit]] were missionaries from the [[Moravian Church]]. On August 25, 1811, after a perilous trip along the coasts of [[Labrador]] and [[Ungava Bay]], Benjamin Gottlieb Kohlmeister and George Kmoch arrived at an Inuit camp on the east shore of the Koksoak.{{sfnp|Kohlmeister & al.|1814|loc=s.v. [https://archive.org/details/journalofvoyagef00kohl/page/70 "August 25th"]}} Their aim was to scout the area for future missions and, if possible, to [[Conversion to Christianity|convert]] the "Esquimaux" to [[Christianity]]. According to their journal, they found  the Inuit of the Koksoak River very interested in having a Moravian mission in the area, but after reaching a little farther than "Pilgerruh" ("[[Pilgrim]]'s Rest") on "Unity's Bay" they turned back for home.{{sfnp|Kohlmeister & al.|1814|loc=s.v. [https://archive.org/details/journalofvoyagef00kohl/page/74 "August 30th"]}}

Attracted by the missionaries' praise of the location,{{sfnp|Bryce|1900|p=376}} the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] established a permanent station on the east shore of the Koksoak River in 1830,{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} at a site about {{cvt|5|km}} downstream from the present settlement. [[George Simpson (HBC administrator)|Governor Simpson]]'s plan was to attract trade from the Inuit of the surrounding territory as well as from the islands and ice sheets north of the bay.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} Its first factor was [[Nicol Finlayson]], who sent [[Erland Erlandson]] to establish an outpost on the [[Wausquash River|Wausquash]]; this had to be abandoned in late 1833 or early 1834.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} By 1833, Fort Chimo comprised seven buildings in a defensive square, principally trading in [[Reindeer|caribou]] hides and [[white fox]] and [[marten]] pelts.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} Erlandson ultimately discovered bountiful trapping far to the south in the highlands around [[Lake Petitsikapau]]; he briefly succeeded Finlayson as acting factor but was replaced when a [[brig]] delivered [[John McLean (explorer)|John McLean]] to his new post in 1837. Over the next four years, he succeeded in establishing an efficient riverine connection with [[Fort Smith (Labrador)|Fort Smith]] on [[Lake Melville]], but the trade at Chimo itself was so sparse that the trails they found were simply used to supply [[Fort Naskaupi]] in the rich interior. In the winter of 1840–1841, fish and game were so scarce that the agents were forced to scatter into open camps around the countryside to survive as best they could. Fort Chimo and its [[District of Ungava]] were shuttered on September 1, 1843,{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} an HBC ship carting away the remaining men and supplies.

The fort did not reopen until 1866, when it was thought necessary to curtail the trade going to the Moravians in the area and the steamboat ''Labrador'' made resupplying the distant outpost easier.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} At that time, Inuit, [[Innu]] (Montagnais), and [[Naskapi]] came to trade at the post. By the 1950s, Fort Chimo included two dormitories, two warehouses, oil and salt sheds, and carpentry, cooperage, and machinist workshops.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} A sloop, a steamer, and outposts at the mouths of the [[Whale River|Whale]] and George Rivers helped carry out the salmon catch each August, which was [[Salting (food)|salted]] on site for use, sale, and export. The fort was usually supplied by the steamer ''Eric'', while a smaller refrigerated steamer picked up the salmon haul.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}}
[[File:Kujjuaq (nord du Québec).jpg|thumb|Children in Kuujjuaq]]
Amid the [[Second World War]], the [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF) surveyed the area from amphibious aircraft out of [[Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador|Gander]] on July 12, 1941 and established the Crystal 1 weather station on the western shore of the Koksoak on October 10, 1941. It was supplied by the [[United States Coast Guard]]. An airfield was established in the summer of 1942, although it was never used for the [[Crimson Route|Crimson East]]'s intended purpose of facilitating trans-Atlantic ferry flights. The US turned over the base to the Canadian government in 1944 and 1945, which established Naval Radio Station Chimo (call sign CFI) as part of the Canadian Supplementary Radio Activities (SUPRAD) system in 1948. Direction-finding facilities were finished and commenced operations in 1949. In 1950, it became part of the Atlantic high-frequency radio direction finding (HFDF) network after the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] and the [[United States Navy]] agreed to coordinate and standardize their detection operations. The high cost of maintaining and supplying the base, however, led to it being shuttered in late summer 1952 and its equipment and personnel moved to Frobisher Bay (now [[Iqaluit]]) on [[Baffin Island]]. The site was eventually adapted as the [[Kuujjuaq Airport]], which now includes a [[Nav Canada]] air-traffic control facility that relays information on flights in northern Canada to [[Montreal]].

With more Inuit settling in the area during this time to assist the base, a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] mission was established in 1948 and was followed by an infirmary, a school, and a weather station.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} The HBC outpost at Fort Chimo was closed for months of repairs in 1957 after a major fire, and the post was moved closer to the airfield in 1960.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}} The remaining families who had still lived around the old site finally joined the larger community, establishing present-day Kuujjuaq (although it did not receive that name until 1980). The HBC store was sold to Hudson's Bay Northern Stores in 1987.{{sfn|Arch. Man.}}

Since 1996, police services in the [[Kativik Regional Government|Kativik region]], including Kuujjuaq, are provided by the [[Kativik Regional Police Force]] (KRPF). The headquarters of the KRPF are located in Kuujjuaq.

==Geography==
Kuujjuaq lies {{cvt|48|km}} upstream from [[Ungava Bay]]. Life in this community involves a close relationship with the river. Its tides regularly change the local landscape, while their rhythm strongly influences the traditional summer activities.

Although the [[tree line]] is very close, the [[Taiga|boreal forest]] is present around Kuujjuaq. Patches of black spruce and larch stand in marshy valleys. Kuujjuaq also witnesses annual migrations of the George River [[Migratory Woodland Caribou|caribou]] herd. These animals pass through the region throughout August and September.

==Climate==
Kuujjuaq has a cold [[subarctic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Dfc''),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=60927&cityname=Kuujjuaq%2C+Quebec%2C+Canada&units=|title=Kuujjuaq, Québec Climate Summary|publisher=Weatherbase|access-date=January 31, 2015}}</ref> not far above the [[polar climate]], but avoids that classification due to the temperate summers with daily mean temperatures of above {{cvt|10|C}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=60927&cityname=Kuujjuaq-Quebec-Canada|title=Kuujjuaq Québec Canada Temperature Averages|publisher=Weatherbase|access-date=January 31, 2015}}</ref> Winters are cold but by no means extreme for its latitude by Eastern Canadian standards.

The cause of the extreme swings is the effect of the [[Hudson Bay]] to its west freezing in November. This eliminates maritime moderation from westerlies that are prevalent in moderating summer temperatures. With Hudson Bay effectively becoming a landmass during the winter, Kuujjuaq ends up being subject to severely cold winds. With the [[Labrador Current]] to its south-east also being cold, winter moderation from the east is also eliminated. Although less snowfall is received compared to the more coastal [[Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador|Nain]] further south, the influence of the current contributes to a sizeable snow tally for a climate that cold. In June, Hudson Bay thaws, resulting in mild maritime air from the cold water moderating westerlies. In spite of this, Kuujjuaq being situated with a direct landmass link to its south for thousands of kilometres can contribute to warm southerlies reaching the settlement, bringing temperatures above {{cvt|30|C}}. Unlike [[Inukjuak]] directly on the Hudson Bay shore, Kuujjuaq thus has a greater continental warmth impact on its summers, and consequently lies below the [[tree line]].

During fall, Kuujjuaq's [[diurnal temperature variation]] is at its lowest, as the maritime moderation is at its strongest. Simultaneously, the Hudson Bay freezing process begins as cold builds up over the vast landmasses surrounding the bay. This renders Kuujjuaq to commonly get ice days during October, before winter begins in November and proceeds to the end of April. Kuujjuaq has a cloudy climate, as a result of the [[Icelandic Low]] influence.

Kuujjuaq has been affected by [[global warming]] in recent decades, similar to other [[Climate change in the Arctic|Arctic locations]]. For example, December 2010 had an average high of {{cvt|-3|C}}, while a {{cvt|-4|C}} average high was measured for March 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/relevmois-1611-12-2010.php|title=Decembre 2010 à Kuujjuaq|publisher=Météo Climat|language=fr|access-date=13 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/relevmois-1611-3-2018.php|title=Mars 2018 à Kuujjuaq|language=fr|publisher=Météo Climat|access-date=October 13, 2018}}</ref> Summer has also been affected, with a {{cvt|20|C}} average high for June 2012, and a {{cvt|21|C}} average high during August 2014. Average frost free periods have also increased from 66 days over the 1951–80 period to 88 days over the 1991–2020 period.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/relevmois-1611-6-2012.php|title=Juin 2012 à Kuujjuaq|publisher=Météo Climat|language=fr|access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/relevmois-1611-8-2014.php|title=Août 2014 à Kuujjuaq|language=fr|publisher=Météo Climat|access-date=October 13, 2018}}</ref><ref>https://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/cmc/climate/1951-80Normals/En56-60-6-1982.pdf Environment Canada Atmospheric Environment Service (1982): Canadian Climate Normals Vol. 6 Frost/Gel 1951–80</ref><ref>https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1991_2020_e.html?searchType=stnName_1991&txtStationName_1991=Kuujjuaq&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=105000000&dispBack=1 Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 Data – Kuujjuaq</ref>

{{Kuujjuaq weatherbox}}

== Demographics ==
In the [[2021 Canadian census|2021 Census of Population]] conducted by [[Statistics Canada]], Kuujjuaq had a population of {{val|2668|fmt=commas}} living in {{val|973|fmt=commas}} of its {{val|1253|fmt=commas}} total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:2668-2754}}|2754|1}} from its 2016 population of {{val|2754|fmt=commas}}. With a land area of {{convert|289.97|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|2668|289.97|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.<ref name=2021census>{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000202&geocode=A000224 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec | publisher=[[Statistics Canada]] | date=February 9, 2022 | accessdate=August 28, 2022}}</ref>

==Transportation==
[[File:Kuujjuaq 1909.jpg|thumb|center|1000px|Fort Chimo (1909)]]
With ocean access and two runways at the [[Kuujjuaq Airport]], Kuujjuaq is the transportation hub of the entire Nunavik region. The Avataq cargo ship delivers cargo once a year, and a new beach port has been built north of the town.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/mighty-ships/avataq/809/3410131 |title=Mighty Ships: Avataq|publisher=[[Mighty Ships]] |access-date=April 9, 2017}}</ref><!-- 58.1458435,-68.3401055 --> There are no roads to outside the region, but there have been proposals floated by regional and provincial officials to build a road link from the south, linking to the [[Route Transtaïga|Trans-Taïga Road]] and also providing access to [[Schefferville, Quebec|Schefferville]].

==Education==
[[Kativik School Board]] (Kativik Ilisarniliriniq) operates two schools in the village. Pitakallak School serves students from kindergarten to grade 3, while [[Jaanimmarik|Jaanimmarik School]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jaanimmarik.kativik.qc.ca/ |title=Jaanimmarik School |access-date=February 25, 2015 |archive-date=May 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503051945/http://jaanimmarik.kativik.qc.ca/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> serves students from grade 4 to secondary 5.
The village boasts a number of hotels, restaurants, stores, arts and crafts shops and a bank. In 1988, 75% of the town's 1,100 residents were native speakers of [[Inuktitut]], 15% native [[Geographical distribution of French speakers|francophones]], and 10% native [[English-speaking Quebecers|anglophones]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dorais|first=Louis-Jacques|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKWJbxkZvPwC&pg=PA332|title=The Language of the Inuit: Syntax, Semantics, and Society in the Arctic|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780773581623|pages=332}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[John McLean (explorer)|John McLean]], HBC trader, explorer, and author
*[[Sheila Watt-Cloutier]], Canadian Inuit activist
*[[Charlie Watt]], Canadian [[Senate of Canada|senator]] and founding president of the [[Makivik Corporation]]
*[[Johnny Ned Adams]], former mayor and businessman
*[[Mary Simon]], [[Governor General of Canada|30th Governor General of Canada]], First Canadian Circumpolar Ambassador, Canadian former diplomat, lead negotiator for the creation of the [[Arctic Council]], and current fellow with the [[Arctic Institute of North America]].

==See also==
* [[List of anglophone communities in Quebec]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="cp2021">{{cite web | url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=kuujj&GENDERlist=1&STATISTIClist=1&DGUIDlist=2021A00052499095 | title=Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population – Kuujjuaq, Village nordique (VN) &#91;Census subdivision&#93;, Quebec | date=February 9, 2022 }}</ref>
<ref name="mamrot">{{mamrot |type=municipalite |99095}}</ref>
<ref name="toponymie">{{toponymie |92769}}</ref>
}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |contribution=Hudson's Bay Company: Fort Chimo |title=''Official site'' |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com |publisher=Archives of Manitoba |location=Winnipeg |ref={{harvid|Arch. Man.}} }}.
* {{citation |last=Ballantyne |first=Robert Michael |author-link=R.M. Ballantyne |date=1857 |title=Ungava: A Tale of Esquimaux-Land |url=https://archive.org/details/ungavataleofesqu00ballrich/page/n6 |publisher=T. Nelson & Sons |location=London }}.
* {{citation |last=Bryce |first=George |title=The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company, Including That of the French Traders of North-Western Canada and of the North-West, XY, and Astor Fur Companies |location=Toronto |publisher=William Briggs |date=1900 }}.
* {{citation |last=Kohlmeister |first=Benjamin Gottlieb |author2=George Knoch |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Kohlmeister & al.|1814}} |location=London |date=1814 |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofvoyagef00kohl/page/n6 |title=Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the Coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, Westward of Cape Chudleigh, Undertaken to Explore the Coast and Visit the Esquimaux in That Unknown Region |publisher=Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among the Heathen }}.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Bissonnette, Alain, and Serge Bouchard. ''The Kuujjuaq Population's Point of View on the Social and Economic Repercussions of the Caniapiscau Cut-Off on Their Hunting and Fishing Activities''. [S.l.]: Société d'énergie de la baie James, Engineering and Environment Dept., Caniapiscau-Koksoak Joint Study Group, 1984.
* Canada. ''Kuujjuaq''. Ottawa: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Atmospheric Environment Service, 1985. {{ISBN|0-660-52596-8}}
* Canada. ''Fort Chimo Airport''. Hourly data summaries, no. 62. Toronto, Ont: Climatology Division, Meteorological Branch, Dept. of Transport, 1968.
* Chabot, Marcelle. ''Socio-economic status and food security of low-income households in Kuujjuaq research report''. Kuujjuac, Quebec: Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services?], 2004.
* Cooper, Willie. ''Souvenirs d'un Kuujjuamiut = Memories of a Kuujjuamiut''. Publication of the Documentation Centre on Inuit History, 1. Inukjuak, Nunavik: Avataq Cultural Institute, 1988.
* Mesher, Dorothy, and Ray H. Woollam. ''Kuujjuaq Memories and Musings''. Duncan, B.C.: Unica Pub. Co, 1995. {{ISBN|0-920649-06-8}}
* Poirier, Glenn Gerard. ''Structure and Metamorphism of the Eastern Boundary of the Labrador Trough Near Kuujjuaq, Quebec, and Its Tectonic Implications''. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1990. {{ISBN|0-315-52237-2}}
* Boutin, Gilles. ''Les aurores boréales Québec-Nunavik''. Quebec 2010. {{ISBN|978-2-89634-053-8}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.krg.ca Kativik Regional Government]

{{Administrative divisions of Quebec region|Nord-du-Québec}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Inuit communities in Quebec]]
[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company trading posts]]
[[Category:Road-inaccessible communities of Quebec]]