Route

Kimmirut Kimmirut ᑭᒻᒥᕈᑦ



    View a Topographic Map of Kimmirut



    View a Google Satellite Map of Kimmirut



    Image courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/

 
 
Latitude: 62º 50’ 52”
Longitude: -69º 52’ 18”

Area: 2.27 km²
Elevation: 53 m

Sun/Moon Rise & Set
  March 2
  June 5

Population: 411

Generational Status (over 15 years of age)
  270  3rd Generation
    00  2nd Generation
    00  1st Generation

Inuit-Identified Population: 385

Mother-Tongue
     30  English
       0  French
       0  English/French
   485  Other

Total Private Dwellings: 116

Population Density: 181.4 km²

 

More statistics about Kimmirut & its residents

 

Learn to pronounce Kimmirut


The community of Kimmirut, previously known as Lake Harbour, is a picturesque town located on the southern coast of Baffin Island, near the mouth of the Soper River. Houses usually face the water instead of the street so residents can keep an eye on the comings and goings of hunters and fishermen. Children play "Inuit baseball," where the runner runs the opposite direction from southern-style baseball and can be tagged out by a thrown ball. Young girls attend to baby siblings by carrying them in an amauti, a hooded woman's parka.

Most Kimmirut residents are carvers, an industry worth approximately $800,000 to the local economy. Many also work in the wage economy for one of the local retail stores, the hamlet, or the territorial government. Virtually everyone participates in the traditional economy of hunting and fishing, a vital link between old and new.

Many of Kimmirut's residents are renowned carvers whose art is sold and collected worldwide. Biographies for local carvers can be seen on their website


History:
There is a long history of human presence in the area around Kimmirut (pronounced "kim-mi-root"). Archeological remains indicate people have occupied the region for some 4,000 years; evidence of Thule, Dorset and Pre-Dorset cultures is scattered throughout the area.

First contact with Europeans came in the 17th century when Hudson's Bay Co. supply ships traveling though Hudson Strait began trading with Inuit. Contact intensified in 1860 with the arrival of American and Scottish whalers. When Robert Kinnes of the Scottish-owned Tay While Fishing Company established a mica mine nearby, it drew Inuit to the area. In 1900, the Anglican Church established its second mission on Baffin Island, building a mission house across the bay from today's community. Hope to capitalize on the abundant white fox population and the growing dependence of Inuit on non-traditional goods, the Hudson's Bay Co. erected Baffin Island's first trading post here in 1911. An RCMP post was established on the east side of Glasgow Inlet in 1927.

Until a US army base arrived in Frobisher Bay in 1945, Kimmirut (known until recently as Lake Harbour) was the administrative centre for the south Baffin. RCMP officers from the Lake Harbour post patrolled as far north as Pangnirtung, west beyond Cape Dorset, and all the camps around the Hudson's Bay Co. post of Frobisher Bay. After the runway was built at Frobisher Bay (now called Iqaluit), focus began to shift away from Lake Harbour and toward Nunavut's future capital, Iqaluit.

The community continued to grow, however. A federal school was established in the 1950s, and a government-administered nursing station soon followed.



Its Land and Wildlife
Kimmirut is situated beside the ocean at the northern extremity of Glasgow Inlet. About 60 meters across the water lies the landmark for which the community is names - a Kimmirut (heel), a rocky outcrop that resembles a human heel.

Tides here, which are sometimes greater than 11 meters, are strikingly apparent as the water level rises and falls along the sheer rock face of the heel. In winter, very low tides sometimes pull the ice down far enough to reveal a dazzling ice wall over 10 meters high.

The bulk of the town stretches along the narrow strip of land that runs north/south along the ocean. Recent housing additions dot surrounding hills. Most of the community's commercial ventures are in the old section of town. Here you'll find the hamlet administration, school, retail stores, shop and convenience store.

It is not uncommon to walk within minutes of the community and see a caribou lope across your path. Equally common are tiny lemmings that dart from rock to rock. Seagulls frequent the area; ravens talk to you from their perches overhead. On a calm summer day, a seal may pop its inquisitive head out of the water or a beluga whale made find its way into a nearby bay. On rare occasions, polar bears have come into the community.

Throughout the community and the surrounding hillsides you'll find abundant and varied flora. Dwarf firewood, white heather and arctic poppies add a delightful touch of color throughout summer. You may even see dandelions in some areas, their growth fostered by a climate warmer than any other on Baffin Island.


For more information about Kimmirut and its surrounding attractions, visit the Nunavut Handbook website



Source courtesy of:
http://www.gov.nu.ca, http://www.qia.ca/i18n/english/, htto://www.arctictravel.com/, http://www12.statcan.ca