Aupaluk means “where the earth is red” in Inuktitut.

Aupaluk, the smallest Nunavik community, is located on the southern shore of Hopes Advance Bay, an inlet on the western shore of Ungava Bay. Although it is the least populated of the Nunavik communities, its population has been increasing. It was 195 in 2011, up from 159 in 2001.

It is about 150 km north of Kuujjuaq and 80 km south of Kangirsuk. The village is built on the lowest of a series of natural terraces about 45 m above sea level. The surrounding landscape is quite flat and is ideal for hiking excursions. The village offers a superb view of Ungava Bay. Aupaluk is named after the reddish colour of its ferruginous soil that is found in the northern reaches of the Labrador Trough, which is rich in iron deposits. There was even mining activity in the region in the late 1950s.

The Kativik School Board operates the Tarsakallak School [5], whose building was destroyed in a fire on March 15, 2014. The school at the time served a total of 54 students.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aupaluk

Inukjuak means “the giant” in Inuktitut.

Inukjuak is located on the north bank of the Innuksuak River, known for its turquoise water and turbulent rapids. The many archaeological sites scattered along the meandering river bear witness to thousands of years of habitation. The land around Inukjuak is marked by gently rolling hills and open spaces which endow the landscape with a “silent beauty,” in the words of local Inuit. From the tundra, there is a splendid view of the village, its small port, the Hopewell Islands, and Hudson Bay. In the spring, the ice between these islands and the mainland is moved by the action of tides and currents to create a spectacular field of immense, upraised blocks of ice.
It is not accessible by road, but by boat in the summer and year-round by air through Inukjuak Airport.

The police services for Inukjuak are provided by the Nunavik Police Service, which has one police station in the village.

“The Giant” is the literal translation of the word Inukjuak, but originally it was Inurjuat, which means “many people.” In the past, there was an Inuk (singular of Inuit) who would go down to the river of Inukjuak to fetch some water. While there, the person saw many Inuit in kayaks approaching from the mouth of the river, and then shouted to the community, “Inurjuat! Inurjuat!” That is where the name for the community comes from.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukjuak

Ivujivik means “place where ice accumulates because of strong currents.”

Ivujivik is the northernmost settlement in all Canadian provinces, although there are settlements further north in the territories. Its population was 412 at the time of the 2021 Canadian census. Unlike most other Northern villages in Nunavik, it has no Inuit reserved land of the same name associated with it.

Policing for Ivujivik is provided by the Nunavik Police Service [5].

Cape Wolstenholme is located 30 km northeast of Ivujivik. Its windswept cliffs are the nesting grounds of one of the world’s largest colonies of thick-billed murre. To the northwest of Ivujivik are Nottingham and Salisbury islands with their impressive walrus populations.

Various peoples, including most recently the nomadic ancestors of Inuit, have inhabited the coast and islands of this area for about 4000 years, with seal, walrus, and beluga as their main food source. These marine animals tend to be abundant as these waters are a migratory passage between Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait. The strong currents that prevent the sea from freezing also allow for year-round hunting. In addition, the myriad of islands provide superb shelter for waterfowl in summer.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivujivik

The name “Kangiqsualujjuaq” (Inuktitut: ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᔾᔪᐊᖅ) is Inuktitut for “the very large bay.”

Kangiqsualujjuaq is the easternmost village of Nunavik, located about 160 km northeast of Kuujjuaq. It is situated 25 km from Ungava Bay on the George River, nestled at the end of a cove called Akilasakalluq. Tidal movements reach as far upstream as the village so that, at low tide, water recedes almost entirely from the cove. Kangiqsualujjuamiut’s summer life is therefore closely linked to the rhythm of the tides. The village itself stands in the shadow of an imposing granite outcrop that rises to the north of the bay. Despite its northerly location, the valley sheltering the village is beautified by lush vegetation. In the 1960s, the village even operated a small spruce lumber mill.

Its population was 956 as of the 2021 census.

The settlement’s original name, Fort Severight, was named in honour of John Severight, a North West Company man who ran Fort Coulonge while McLean was there. After its reestablishment, it was known by various names due to its location: Fort George, George’s River [5], George River, George River Post, and Fort George River. It was also sometimes known as Port-Nouveau-Québec (French for “Port New Quebec”).

Kangiqsualujjuaq is located 1,688 km (1,049 mi) northeast of Montréal. Surrounded by mountains, the township is framed by a picturesque setting and its elevated position affords unobstructed views of the George River. The town itself is laid out in a grid pattern over levelled ground, with two unsealed roads leading a few kilometres beyond the mountain ridges at each end of the village. Amidst rocky outcrops and stone markers (Inukshuk), the village landscape is dotted with stands of stunted trees and prostrate ground cover that clings precariously to the rugged granite terrain. In low-lying areas, the ground is covered with thick carpets of moss and lichen.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangiqsualujjuaq

Kangiqsujuaq (Inuktitut: ᑲᖏᕐᓱᔪᐊᖅ) is a Northern village in Nunavik, Nord-du-Québec, Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 837 as of the 2021 Canadian census. The community has also been known as Wakeham Bay. The name “Kangiqsujuaq” means “the large bay” in Inuktitut [5].

It is located on the Ungava Peninsula, on the Cap du Prince-de-Galles in the Hudson Strait. It is served by the small airport of Kangiqsujuaq.

In winter, when the tides are extremely low, local Inuit sometimes climb beneath the shifting sea ice to gather blue mussels.

They make holes in the ice and then walk for a short time on the exposed sea bed to collect this food. This risky way of gathering mussels goes back generations [6].

Like other villages in the Kativik region, the Nunavik Police Service provides police services in Kangiqsujuaq [7].

Kangiqsujuaq is the closest community to the Qajartalik archaeological site, a site featuring petroglyphs created by the Dorset culture [8]. In 2017, it was announced that Qajartalik would be added to Canada’s tentative list for nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list [9].

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangiqsujuaq

Kangirsuk, meaning “the bay” in Inuktitut, is located on the north shore of the Payne River, 13 km inland from Ungava Bay. The village lies between a rocky cliff to the north and a large, rocky hill to the west. The numerous lakes and rivers of the area are well known for their Arctic char and lake trout. The strong tides of the Payne River make it an extraordinary place to harvest mussels. The richness of the area surrounding Kangirsuk is also impressive. It is flanked by two islands where large colonies of eider ducks nest every year. Inuit women collect the precious down of these birds to make the warm parkas that protect Kangirsumiut from the biting winter cold.

In the 11th century, the area was possibly visited by Vikings. Not far from the village on Pamiok Island, Thomas E. Lee, an archaeologist from Université Laval, discovered the stone foundations of what he identified at the time to be a Viking longhouse [4] [5]. More recent archaeological investigations have identified the site as being part of the Dorset culture [6]. Another archaeological site, Hammer of Thor, is located on the north shores of Payne River about 25 km (16 mi) west of the village.

Inuit have hunted and fished along the Ungava Bay coast for centuries. Permanent European settlement did not occur until 1921 when the Revillon Frères company set up a trading post here [5], named Payne River (now the Arnaud River) in memory of Frank F. Payne, who explored the region during the winter of 1885–1886 [7]. Four years later, the rival Hudson’s Bay Company also set up a post [5]. However, Inuit remained nomadic and only used the site as a summer encampment due to the abundance of game [7].

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangirsuk

Kuujuaq means “great river” in Inuktitut.

Kuujjuaq is located on the west bank of the Koksoak River, about 50 km upstream from Ungava Bay, in the boreal forest. Black spruce and larch grow in the marshy valleys around the village. The annual migrations of the George River caribou herd pass through the region throughout August and September.

As of 2016, Kuujjuaq had a population of 2,743, making it the largest community in Nunavik. Formerly known as Fort Chimo and other names, it is a former Hudson’s Bay Company outpost that has become the largest Northern village in the Nunavik region of Quebec, Canada. It is the administrative capital of the Kativik Regional Government.

Inuktitut is commonly used, and many elders speak only Inuktitut. About 90% of the population is Inuit; people who are not Inuit are called Qallunaat.

The village hospital serves the population of Ungava Bay. The village has hotels, restaurants, stores, arts and crafts shops, and a CIBC bank with a 24-hour ATM.
In summer, bright sunshine, wind, rain and possibly snow can be expected. Long underwear, a fleece jacket, a knitted hat, polarized sunglasses, insect repellent, and protective clothing are a must. Mosquitoes can be particularly difficult in the summer.

Snow can arrive as early as mid-September. In winter, blizzards can strike in just a few hours.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuujjuaq

Kuujjuarapik, Inuktitut for “little great river,” is the southernmost Northern village at the mouth of the Grande Rivière de la Baleine (Great Whale River) on the coast of Hudson Bay in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. Nearly 1000 people, mostly Cree, live in the adjacent village of Whapmagoostui. The community is only accessible by air through Kuujjuarapik Airport and by boat in late summer. The nearest Inuit village is Umiujaq, about 160 km (99 mi) north-northeast. Police services in Kuujjuaraapik are provided by the Nunavik Police Service, formerly the Kativik Regional Police Force.

Like most other Northern villages in Quebec, there is an Inuit reserved land of the same name, Kuujjuarapik. However, unlike most other Inuit reserved lands, the Inuit reserved land of Kuujjuarapik is not adjacent to its eponymous Northern village; rather, it is located considerably farther north and in fact borders on the Inuit reserved land of Umiujaq.

While the Inuit have hunted and fished along the Hudson Bay coast long before the arrival of Europeans, it was not until 1820 when a Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) trading post was built there [5], known variously as Great Whale River House, Great Whale River, or just Great Whale. On maps from 1851 and 1854, the post was called Whale River House and Whale House [8].
Protestant and Catholic missions settled there in the 1880s. In 1895, a weather station was established by the federal government. Medical and police services began to be offered in the first half of the 20th century [5], but the site was not settled permanently and served only as a summer encampment. The official 1901 census recorded 216 people for Great Whale River, noting all Inuit and their families who lived in the surrounding area and came to trade at Great Whale River over the course of several months. However, the census taker did note of this official number: “I should say it does not represent one third of the Eskimos, but I am sending on as many (names) as I could obtain” [9].

In the late 1930s, Inuit gave up their nomadic way of life and settled in the village. In 1940, the American army opened a military air base here, using Inuit and Cree workers. In 1941, the HBC post closed. After the Second World War in 1948, the military base was transferred to the Canadian government and in 1955, it began operating a Mid-Canada Line radar station called RCAF Station Great Whale River [5]. Though the radar station was not operational for long and closed in 1965, it established the village permanently.

In 1961, when the Quebec government decided to give French names to places in the North, Great Whale River was replaced by Grande-Baleine, which in turn was replaced a year later by Poste-de-la-Baleine [3]. When the village was incorporated, it officially adopted its current name, a name Inuit had already been using for some time.

Although the permanent cohabitation of Inuit and Cree at the mouth of the Great Whale River only dates back to 1950, the two Indigenous peoples had been rubbing shoulders in this area for a very long time, with Inuit near the coast and the Cree more inland.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuujjuarapik

Puvirnituq (Inuktitut: ᐳᕕᕐᓂᑐᖅ) is a Northern village in Nunavik, on the Povungnituk River near its mouth on Hudson Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Its population was 1,779 as of the 2016 Canadian census [4].

Of all other Northern villages in Nunavik (NV), only Ivujivik and Puvirnituq have no Inuit reserved land (IL) of the same name associated with them.

The name means “Place where there is a smell of rotten meat.” This unusual name may have originated from either one of these events (which occurred a long time ago):

A herd of caribou, while attempting to cross the Povungnituk River, was swept away and washed ashore near the current village location where the rotting carcasses began to give off a stench.

An epidemic killed off most of the area’s residents to the point that there were not enough people to bury the dead, leaving the exposed bodies to decompose and to give off a putrid smell.

Puvirnituq is the aviation hub of the Hudson Bay coast. Puvirnituq Airport handles regular flights to and from all other Hudson Bay coastal communities in Quebec, Montréal, and Ottawa. It is not accessible by road.

In 1921, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) established a trading post in the village, known as Povungnituk and often shortened to Pov. This attracted the settlement of Inuit living in the region. In 1951, the HBC opened a general store. The closure of HBC stores in other nearby villages led to an influx of Inuit to Puvirnituq.

A Catholic mission was founded in 1956, which encouraged the residents to form the Carvers Association of Povungnituk two years later. It later became the Cooperative Association of Povungnituk and was instrumental in assisting, developing, and marketing Inuit art. Its success inspired other Inuit communities to form similar cooperatives, most of which now make up the Federation of Cooperatives of Northern Quebec. Leah Nuvalinga Qumaluk was among the artists who worked at the cooperative [6].

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puvirnituq

The name Quaqtaq means “tapeworm.” According to local folklore, the name is derived from a man who had come to the area to hunt beluga and found live parasites in his feces. His hunting companions began to call the place Quaqtaq.

Quaqtaq (Inuktitut: ᖁᐊᕐᑕᖅ) is a Northern village in Nunavik, northern Quebec, Canada. Its population was 403 as of the 2016 Canadian census.

The village is one of the northernmost inhabited places in Quebec, located on the eastern shore of Diana Bay (Tuvaaluk in Inuktitut), on a peninsula which juts out into Hudson Strait where it meets Ungava Bay [5].

Inaccessible by road, Quaqtaq is served by the small Quaqtaq Airport.

Archaeological evidence indicates that people have occupied the area around Quaqtaq for about 3500 years. Thule people, the ancestors of today’s Inuit, arrived around AD 1400 or 1500.

In 1947, a Roman Catholic mission opened in Quaqtaq. The present-day settlement was established after the closure in 1950 of a trading post established in 1927 at Iggiajaaq, a few kilometres to the southwest. After a measles epidemic killed 11 adults in 1952, the Canadian government began delivering basic services to the community. A nursing station was built in 1963. In the 1960s, the Quebec government opened a store and a post office equipped with a radio-telephone. In 1974, the store became a cooperative and in 1978, Quaqtaq was legally established as a Northern village.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaqtaq

Salluit means “the thin ones” in Inuktitut, referring to a time when local inhabitants faced starvation due to a lack of wildlife.

Salluit (Inuktitut: ᓴᓪᓗᐃᑦ, ""the thin ones"") [6] is the second northernmost Inuit community in Quebec, Canada, located on Sugluk Inlet close to the Hudson Strait. It was formerly known as Sugluk. Its population was 1,483 as of the 2016 Canadian census, with 1,075 in the population centre [3] [4]. It is not accessible by road, but by air through Salluit Airport.

In 1925, an independent trader opened a trading post on the site of present-day Salluit. Not to be outdone, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) quickly established its own post on the far shore of Sugluk Inlet, but relocated it soon after to Deception Bay, about 53.5 km to the east.

In 1930, the HBC built a store in present-day Salluit and closed its post at Deception Bay in 1932. The golden years of fur trading came to an end around 1936 when the price of pelts collapsed.

In 1930, a Catholic mission was established, closing some twenty years later, but was followed by an Anglican mission in 1955. The Government of Canada opened a day school in 1957. As more public services became available, Inuit settled around the small village.

The first houses were built in 1959, and ten years later a cooperative store was established by its residents. Salluit legally became a municipality in 1979.

The Kativik School Board operates two schools in Salluit, Pigiurvik School, which is the primary school, and Ikusik School, which is the secondary school. Students attend Pigiurvik from Grades 1 to 5, and Ikusik from Grade 6 through Secondary V.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salluit

Tasiujaq means “which resembles a lake” in Inuktitut.

Its population according to the 2011 Canadian census was 303.

It was built on the shores of Leaf Lake at the head of Deep Harbour and lies a few kilometres north of the tree line, where shrub tundra finally gives way to Arctic tundra. Tasiujaq actually refers to the whole of Leaf Basin: Leaf Lake, Leaf Passage, and Leaf Bay. Leaf Basin is renowned for its high tides, which regularly exceed 15 metres.

The bedrock under Tasiujaq consists of sedimentary and metamorphic formations, chiefly sandstone, slate, greywacke, and argillite. Iron ore, dolomite, and mafic rocks are found nearby [5].

The region is very rich in marine mammals (seal and beluga), fish (Arctic char, Atlantic salmon, trout), ducks (particularly eider ducks), and many seabirds. Also, close to 1000 musk-ox roam the surrounding area. Gyrfalcons and peregrine falcons are commonly found nesting on the islands of Leaf Basin and the surrounding cliffs.

In 1966, just as the development of the village was about to begin, the Inuit families who were to be relocated were divided as to where their future village should be built. A choice had to be made between a site known as Qaamanialuk Paanga and the site of the old trading posts. Qaamanialuk Paanga was finally selected because it was easily accessible by boats used for summer hunting and fishing, the nearby Finger River provided the necessary drinking water, and there was room to construct a landing strip.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasiujaq

Umiujaq means""which resembles a boat” in Inuktitut.

Located about 160 km north of Kuujjuarapik, near the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, Umiujaq was established in 1986. In light of the La Grande hydroelectric project and the proposed Great Whale hydroelectric project, Inuit negotiated a clause in the 1975 JBNQA that provided for the relocation of Inuit from Kuujjuarapik to Richmond Gulf.

In 1982, through a referendum, they opted to create a new community where they could preserve their traditional lifestyle in an area where fish and game were not threatened. After numerous archaeological, ecological, and land use planning studies, construction of the small village of Umiujaq began in the summer of 1985 and ended in December 1986. During construction, Inuit from Kuujjuarapik, who had decided to relocate to Umiujaq, lived in tents in the area of their future community.

The population according to the 2016 Canadian census was 442.

Umiujaq is the closest community to Parc national Tursujuq (Tursujuq National Park), which was officially opened on July 18, 2013, and covers 26,106.7 km2 (10,079.9 sq mi) [4]. The park headquarters is located in the village, from which the park is accessible by an unpaved road.

Umiujaq, is located at the foot of a hill resembling an overturned umiaq, a traditional Inuit walrus-skin boat. The village is located 15 km west of Lac Guillaume-Delisle (Richmond Gulf) or Tasiujaq in Inuktitut (meaning “which resembles a lake”), an immense inland bay which is joined with Hudson Bay by a rocky gulch. Inaccessible by road, Umiujaq is served by the small Umiujaq Airport.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umiujaq