Pond Inlet

Mittimatalik, known in English as Pond Inlet, is located on the northerly tip of Baffin Island in the Lancaster Sound region on the east side of Eclipse Sound. The region has one of Canada's most inhospitable climates—with long, dark winters and temperatures averaging (December to February, meteorological reckoning). Significant geographic features near Pond Inlet include its ice edge which attracts a diversity of wildlife, particularly ringed seals, Arctic cod, murres and some other sea birds that thrive there, because of its "greater access to preferred foods". A wide arm of the sea separates Pond Inlet from Bylot Island, a large uninhabited island of . The waterways between Bylot Island and Baffin Island are Navy Board Inlet, which opens into Lancaster Sound and Tasiujaq, which opens to Baffin Bay. Navy Board Inlet is the entrance to the Northwest Passage. Tasiujaq separates Pond Inlet from Bylot Island and has a series of deeply cut inlets west of Pond Inlet, including Milne Inlet, a small inlet, flows south from Navy Board Inlet at the confluence of Tasiujaq. The Pond Inlet region, including Bylot Island, is covered by the Arctic Cordillera, a terrestrial ecozone in Canada, characterized by a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges. There are mountains visible from all sides of Pond Inlet. From the summit of Mount Herodier at , which is east of the hamlet, the entire area is visible. Inuit from Pond Inlet travel to the Island regularly and its mountains form a backdrop to the hamlet's landscape. Bylot Island along with Sirmilik National Park, is a protected area. The Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which is across Tasiujaq from Pond Inlet, has been a federally protected area since 1962 and is the second largest Migratory Bird Sanctuary (MBS). It was created to protect the nesting grounds of thick-billed murre, black-legged kittiwake and greater snow goose. In 2016, an Elder and a youth from Pond Inlet joined Parks Canada's archaeologists to excavate one of the sod houses at the Thule site, known as Qaiqsut, in Bylot Island's Sirmilik National Park—one of Canada's most northerly parks. The site, which still has a handful of sod houses, had been used by the ancestors of Inuit for centuries, and had also been used by Scottish whalers 200 years ago. Mary River, with its fresh water lake, which is about south of Pond Inlet—where caribou graze in the summer season—was an annual meeting place for the semi-nomadic Inuit for hundreds of years. Pond Inlet Inuit have names for about 150 geographic features in the area immediately surrounding the hamlet that have been added to detailed maps in a collaboration between the Inuit Heritage Trust Incorporated (IHTI) and Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office (CNGO). The sound which forms the entrance to the open sea west of the hamlet is called Tursukattak, or ᑐᕐᓱᑲᑦᑕᒃ in Inuktitut syllabics,—"heading west from a narrow passage to a large opening" as it resembles the narrow entrance of an igloo. One of the place names refers to Captain James Bannerman, a Scottish whaler of the 1875 British Arctic Expedition, whose great-grandson is a resident of Pond Inlet. == Demographics ==

In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Pond Inlet had a population of 1,555 living in 365 of its 466 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,617. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Of the total population in 2021, about 49.8% were female and 50.2% male. There were 1,345 Indigenous peoples (1,335 Inuit and 10 First Nations) and 110 non-Indigenous people. Compared to the rest of Canada, Pond Inlet's population is fairly young with 36.7% of the population being under 15 compared to 16.3% for Canada as a whole. Pond Inlet's population in 1976 was 504 people, and within a radius, of what was to become the Mary River Mine, there were 2,209 people. By the 2021 census there were 6,670 people in the same area. ==Wildlife==

By 2011, many Inuit continued to live off the land in the Pond Inlet area. Wildlife in the region includes caribou, polar bears, Arctic foxes, ermines, lemmings, and Arctic hares. The coastal waters have walrus, seals, beluga whales (white whale), and narwhals. The variety of wildlife so close to the hamlet is one of its tourist attractions. Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization Pond Inlet's Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization (MHTO) have been actively participating in discussions regarding Baffinland's Phase 2 Proposal for expansion of the Mary River project by submitting presentations to the Qikiqtani Inuit Association's (QIA). The Nunavut Impact Review Board was criticized for rushing through the process by limiting the number of questions each party could ask Baffinland. MHTO board member, elder and hunter Elijah Panipakoocho expressed frustration with the process. The MHTO and the Hamlet of Pond Inlet said that the NIRB process was not supporting Inuit interests. Panipakoocho said that now the caribou are gone, and the seal that they used to hunt in Milne Inlet during the fall freeze-up are no longer abundant. MHTO chairperson, Eric Ootoovak, said that "This project deserves and needs more work, and more attention, and that is what we bring to the table. More questions, not less, are absolutely necessary...Instead of developing more questions based on what we've heard, our technical advisor has spent two days trying to find ways to cut corners and limit our incredibly important questions." Milne Inlet, where Baffinalnd have their port, is a "small inlet" that "opens into Eclipse Sound, a primary summering area for Nunavut's largest population of narwhal. After years of negotiations, communities say they still haven't been given a clear picture of how the mine will impact Inuit land use and hunting rights for themselves and following generations." ==Place name==

To the Inuit, the place "is and always has been Mittimatalik." was chosen by the explorer John Ross in 1818 in honour of the English astronomer John Pond, at the time the sixth Astronomer Royal. ==Pond Inlet community histories==

According to the 2013 Qikiqtani Truth Commission, the people of the region around Pond Inlet are known as Tununirmiut—"people of the shaded place" or Mittimatalingmiut—people of Mittimatalik." Archaeologists have identified the four thousand years of land use—hunting and fishing on land, sea, and ice—in the Pond Inlet area as pre-Dorset people, Dorset, Thule, and modern Inuit. The Amitturmiut were semi-nomadic, travelled great distances on foot and by dog sled on traditional routes to follow the caribou and sea mammals, from hunting caribou to fishing spots. Tasiujaq—which has several arms—is a natural Qikiqtaaluk Region waterway through the Arctic Archipelago that separates Bylot Island from Baffin Island. Starting in 1903, Scottish entrepreneurs had set up a small whaling station at Igarjuaq. Other non-Inuit (Qallunaat) traders established trading posts in the area. There was some contact with Inuit during the short annual whaling season. that had been carved c. 500-1000 CE and are now in the permanent collection of the Canadian Museum of History. The angakkuq masks were originally collected by Guy Mary-Rousselière, a French-Canadian anthropologist, missionary Catholic priest, who spent 56 years in the Canadian Arctic including 36 years in Mittimatalik, from 1958 until his 23 April 1994 death there at the age of 81. Father Mary, as he was known, "died in a fire at the Catholic mission in Pond Inlet"—a "wise and somewhat eccentric elder of the church". Janes had "reportedly threatened the Inuit and their valuable sled dogs". Nuqallaq was tried according to Canadian law and his wife's testimony in his defence was recorded by Father Mary-Rousselière. Nuqallaq was found guilty and sentenced to ten years of hard labour in the Stony Mountain Penitentiary. In her 2002 non-fiction, Arctic Justice: On Trial for Murder, Pond Inlet, 1923, Shelagh Grant said that the trial and sentence were motivated by "Canada's international political concerns for establishing sovereignty over the Arctic." In his 2017 non-fiction Thou Shalt Do No Murder: Inuit, Injustice, and the Canadian Arctic, Kenn Harper said that the trial "marked a collision of two cultures with vastly different conceptions of justice and conflict resolution...It hastened the end of the Inuit traditional way of life and ushered in an era in which Inuit autonomy was supplanted by dependence on traders and police, and later missionaries". In 1964, the Cape Dorset (now Kinngait) art studio manager, Terrence Ryan, travelled to several communities in North Baffin, provided drawing materials, commissioned and collected drawings from local Inuit Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Arctic Bay and Igloolik, which resulted in a collection of approximately 1,860 sheets of drawings — drawn by 159 local residents. It was a time of "social, economic and spiritual upheaval" and the images recorded and reflected that experience in the northern hamlets. Inuit youth from Pond Inlet were taken from their families The students were housed in hostels that were segregated based on the students' religious affiliation—Roman Catholic or Anglican. According to the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2008 to 2015), organized by the parties of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the Churchill Vocational Centre in northern Manitoba, housed Inuit youth from Pond Inlet and about 16 other remote hamlets—all at that time still part of the Northwest Territories—Nunavut was created in 1999. Some of the students at the Indigenous residential school at Churchill travelled "staggering" distances with some Inuit communities separated by as much as . Over the years, the Churchill Vocational Centre had "provided academic and vocational training to about 1,000 to 1,200 Inuit youth". The September 2007 landmark compensation deal, the federal government-approved agreement amounted to nearly $2 billion in compensation to former students who had attended 130 schools. The new organizations they founded upon returning to the Arctic, included the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (formerly the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada or ITK) in the eastern Arctic in 1971. By the 1970s, Inuit had gradually "moved, or been moved, from land-based hunting and trapping camps to new settlements", like Pond Inlet, that had been developed in the eastern Arctic, and over the years, attempts had been made by the federal government, to integrate Inuit into a "modern industrial economy". By the 1970s, the three main sections in Pond Inlet were the area around the cliff called Qaiqsuarjuk, the beach area known as Mittimatalik, and the upper hill area called Qaqqarmiut. Apphia Agalakti Awa was born on the land in the Eastern High Arctic in 1931, for four decades lived the semi-nomadic life style travelling "across tundra and sea ice, between hunting camps, fishing spots, and trading posts." ==Mixed economy: wage-based and traditional subsistence==

Pond Inlet's economy is mixed—including both traditional subsistence and wage-based activities. The wildlife economy, "including hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering...continues to play an important role in Pond Inlet and contributes to the foundation of Inuit culture and economy". Growth sectors in Nunavut include arts and crafts and wildlife harvesting for future economic development. When Nunavut was established, its government adopted a decentralized strategy for job creation. As part of the decentralization process, Pond Inlet became the Qikiqtani regional centre for Nunavut's Department of Economic Development and Transportation. Tourism As a tourist destination, Pond Inlet is considered one of Canada's "Jewels of the North". It is one of the most picturesque communities with mountain ranges visible in all directions. Icebergs are most often accessible from the community within walking distance or a short snowmobile ride in winter. Pond Inlet boasts a nearby floe edge, several dozen glaciers, explorable ice caves, and many grand and picturesque inlets. Barren-ground caribou, ringed seal, narwhals and polar bears are just some of the wildlife that can be encountered while travelling out on the land. The area is also home to Sirmilik National Park (; Inuktitut: "the place of glaciers"), name for the glaciers that can be observed there. By 1999, Pond Inlet was receiving about 1,500 visitors from six to eight cruise ships with tours usually organized around the hamlet's newly built Nattinnak Visitor Centre and the Rebecca P. Idlout Public Library and archives. The Nattinnak Centre offers a variety of on-shore programs, which may include a walking tour of the hamlet, a visit to the Qilaukat Thule site near Salmon River, and/or a cultural performance—with a focus on the creation of Nunavut. Tununiq Sauniq Co-op The Tununiq Sauniq Co-operative, a member of Arctic Co-operatives Limited, was incorporated in 1968. In Pond Inlet, businesses include a retail store, convenience store, hotel, fuel delivery, Yamaha snowmobile and ATV repair shop, cable television services and property rentals. It serves the community by managing contracts and delivering goods and services to the citizens of Pond Inlet. Some of the services the Co-op provides are: school bus services, Canadian North airline agents, Qilaut heavy equipment rentals and services, construction contracts, TV cable services, a grocery and department store, Yamaha snowmobile and ATV repair shop, and others. It also has the largest hotel in the community, the Sauniq Inns North Hotel. Inuit land use and occupation The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) initiated the 1973 Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project (ILUOP). The ILUOP "presented a detailed, comprehensive, and verifiable basis for the claim that Inuit used and occupied an area in excess of 2.8 million square kilometres at the time the ILUOP was completed in the Northwest Territories and northeast Yukon". Hugh Brody (1943–), who was an anthropologist, associated with the Scott Polar Research Institute, operated by the University of Cambridge, and a Canada Research Chair at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. did extensive field work in Pond Inlet in the 1970s, as a research officer with the Northern Science Research Group. In 1976–78 he coordinated the land use mapping in the North Baffin region for the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project and assembled accounts of Inuit perceptions of land occupancy across the Arctic which were included in the Project's final publications. In the mid-1980s there were two "longitudinal surveys of local economic changes in Pond Inlet" undertaken and more data was gathered in 1997. At that time, job opportunities remained limited. There was some expectation for increased employment with the creation of the new Nunavut government. MRIKS, which was informed by the 1976 ILAOP, asked participants about "Inuit use and understanding of the land, caribou, marine mammals, fish, birds and other land mammals." Participants were asked about the "names for the major land and water features and thirty-six key words were recorded. The study included Inuit Heritage Trust place names. Pond Inlet had raised concerns Baffinland contracted article that seemed to "reduce traditional knowledge or Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) to static data". QIA conducted interviews with 35 Pond Inlet residents on "how they live their daily life, including where they hunt, fish and just enjoy the outdoors" and used Google Earth mapping to "mark hunting routes, burial sites and other areas of importance to the community". ==The creation of Nunavut==

In 1976, the nonprofit organization, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC), now known as the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami—who represent all Canadian Inuit—submitted its first Inuit land claims proposal, calling for the creation of a new territory. In 1999, Nunavut was established, brought about by the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement—the largest and most all-encompassing land claims and self-determination agreement in Canadian history. ==Mineral development projects==

Two large mineral development projects that were located close to Pond Inlet included Nanisivik Mine which operated from 1976 until 2002. had jointly purchased the Baffinland Iron Mine Corporation. Their plans included a proposed northern railway that would carry the iron ore to tidewater. The mine has been the source of much debate over cultural and environmental issues. In Baffinland's 2019 annual report, Pond Inlet reported that in 2018 there were 49 people employed by Baffinland in Pond Inlet and the number was decreasing. Concerns were raised for hunters - the lack of animals was noticeable. There were concerns about sound pollution and ships in summer affecting wildlife as there are fewer seals and narwhals. The Kingdom of Denmark, concerned by the environmental impacts of the next phase of Baffinland's Mary River Mine on nearby Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, has been included by the Canadian government in the Nunavut Impact Review Board assessment process for the planned expansion. The two weeks of Nunavut Impact Review Board environmental hearings regarding the Mary River Mine ended on 6 February. By 6 February peaceful protesters from Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay were blockading the Mary River Aerodrome and trucking road at Mary River Mine. They are concerned that expansion would result in an "increase the number of ore carriers that visit during the ice free season". On 4 February 2021, as the two-week long scheduled Nunavut Impact Review Board review on the Baffinland expansion was nearing its end, eight hunters from Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay, set up a peaceful blockade at Mary River project's tote road and airstrip. The communities of Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay are nearest the mine site. The hunters feel their wildlife economy is threatened—protesting the expansion and the review process itself. The bulk carrier Federal Tiber departed from Milne Inlet on 8 August 2015, with the first shipment of ore from the mine. In 2021, Baffinland said that the "railway and a new indoor crushing facility will decrease dust." Environmental concerns In 1991, the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) began monitoring the levels of contaminants in wildlife species that continued to be an important part of the traditional diet of Inuit, such as beluga, ringed seals, and arctic char. Their third assessment focused on persistent organic pollutants (POP)s. In Pond Inlet a specific focus was placed on sea run Arctic char. ==Transportation==

Pond Inlet is most readily accessible by aircraft through a connection in Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital, to Pond Inlet Airport. The ocean is ice free for as long as three and a half months when cruise ships bring tourists to visit and goods can be transported to the community by sealift cargo carrying ships. Fresh foods such as fruits, vegetables and milk are flown from Montreal to Pond Inlet several times a week, a distance of about . Because of such great distances the cost of food and other materials such as construction supplies can be much higher than that of southern Canada. Milk is approximately $3.75/L, and carbonated drinks can be as much as $4.50/can. Although the community is not more than long, snowmobiles and ATV four-wheelers are the main modes of transportation. With the decentralization of the Nunavut government and increased economic opportunities in the community, the number of vehicles has been increasing. ==Education==

Ulaajuk Elementary School and Nasivvik High School together teach kindergarten through grade 12 to approximately 450 students. Nunavut Arctic College hosts a variety of programs for adult learners. Pond Inlet is also the headquarters of the Qikiqtani School Operations which runs schools throughout the Qikiqtaaluk Region. Nunavut uses the Alberta curriculum, which may not be appropriate for high schools in Nunavut. == Broadband communications ==

The community has been served by the Qiniq network since 2005. Qiniq is a fixed wireless service to homes and businesses, connecting to the outside world via a satellite backbone. The Qiniq network is designed and operated by SSi Canada. In 2017, the network was upgraded to 4G LTE technology, and 2G-GSM for mobile voice. ==Climate==

Pond Inlet has a polar arctic climate (ET) with long cold winters and short cool summers. Pond Inlet's average high for the year is while the average low for the year is . The daily mean for the coldest month, February, is . The daily mean for the warmest month, July, is . The annual average during the 30 year period from 1991–2020 is up from the 1981–2010 average of . The record high for Pond Inlet is on 12 July 2001. The record low for Pond Inlet is on 12 February 1979. ==Notable people associated with Pond Inlet==

• Siku Allooloo, an Inuk/Haitian Taíno writer, artist, facilitator and land-based educator from Denendeh ("the Land of the People"), Northwest Territories and Pond Inlet • Titus Allooloo, a business man and former territorial level politician • Sheila Burnford, a Scottish writer who wrote ''One Woman's Arctic'' (1973) about her two summers in Pond Inlet • Joe Enook, an Inuk politician who was elected to represent the district of Tununiq in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut • Elijah Erkloo, a former territorial level politician • Joseph Idlout, an Inuk featured on the former Canadian two-dollar bill • Ruben Komangapik, an Inuk artist primarily known for his mixed media sculptures • Jobie Nutarak, an Inuk politician who was elected to represent the district of Tununiq in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut • Karen Nutarak, an Inuk politician who was elected to represent the district of Tununiq in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut • Elisapee Ootoova, an Inuk elder who preserved and promoted Inuit traditional knowledge • Katharine Scherman, an American author who wrote Spring on an Arctic Island (1956) about a research trip to Bylot Island in 1954 == See also ==