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Today, Inuvik is the administrative and commercial centre
for Western Arctic and is Canada’s largest community
north of the Arctic Circle. The town’s population peaked at
4,200 in 1990 at the end of the exploration boom, and now
is at about 3,450.
The colour and vitality of Inuvik will take you by surprise.
You’ll see paved streets lined with brightly coloured
houses on pilings, dome-shaped buildings and the strange
snake-like “utilidor” system. In the summer the town hums
with activity. Tourists walk the streets and air charter and
construction companies take advantage of the continuous
daylight. A planned community, Inuvik offers the comforts
of urban living in an arctic setting. Visitors can experience
several cultures here, and true frontier hospitality.
Inuvik is situated on the East Channel of the Mackenzie
Delta. At 133˚43’ west longitude, it is 10 degrees farther
west than Vancouver, British Columbia. The community is
within the taiga forest, just south of the tree line and west
of the open tundra. The Arctic Ocean is only 97 kilometres
north and the Arctic Circle is 200 kilometres to the south.
With the summer’s 24-hour sunlight, there is plenty of time
for visitors to experience the vast wilderness at Inuvik’s
doorstep. Winter is the time for “noon moon” activities such
as driving on ice roads, snowmobiling, dog sledding and
curling. The Inuvik area is a snowmobiler’s heaven, with
10,000 kilometres of Mackenzie Delta Channels to explore,
as well as tundra trails north to the Beaufort Sea coast and
west into the Richardson Mountains.
The aurora borealis (“northern lights”) can be seen during
the dark months. Locals say that Inuvik is so far north that
they have to look south to see the northern lights!
Some residents earn their living hunting, trapping and
fishing, but most are employed in government and
indigenous offices or in transportation, construction,
petroleum exploration and tourism companies.
Source: Canada’s Western Arctic (Handbook)
INUVIK
NOW
Photo: Anne Kokko/NWT Tourism
INUVIK
DRUMMERS
& DANCERS
The Inuvik Drummers & Dancers were brought together in 1989 by a younger generation of adult Inuvialuit
who wanted to bring drum dancing into their lives having been inspired by the elders of the original
Mackenzie Delta Drummers and Dancers. From their guidance and instruction, the group learned the stories
of the songs, the drumming and the motions of the dances. They initially practiced beating time on a piece of
cardboard until drums were made using antler, caribou skin, wood and sinew.
Members of the group are from the community of Inuvik and number between 30 to 40, ages 5 to 87. There
are approximately 15 to 20 youth/children, 15 adults and 3 elders. Learning to sing the songs also instills
another form of learning and practicing the Inuvialuktun language. The group has performed at many
special functions and events, regionally and nationally.
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