Nunavik

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Not to be confused with Nunavut, a Canadian territory.

Nunavik (ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering an area of approximately 507 000 km², north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec. The 11,000 inhabitants of the region, of which 90% are Inuit, live in 14 northern villages on the coast of Nunavik and in the Cree village of Whapmagoostui, near the northern village of Kuujjuarapik.

Nunavik means "place to live" in the local dialect of Inuktitut and the Inuit inhabitants of the region call themselves Nunavimmiut. Until 1912, the region was part of the District of Ungava of the Northwest Territories.

1 Geography
2 Government
3 Communities in Nunavik
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Nunavik is a vast territory of over 500,000 km², located in the northernmost part of Quebec considered as having an arctic and sub-arctic climate.

Nunavik is separated from Nunavut Territory by Hudson's Bay to the west and Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay to the north. Nunavik shares a border with the Côte-Nord region of Québec and the Labrador region of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Ungava Peninsula forms the northern two-thirds of the region.

Nunavik has 14 villages populated by a majority of Inuit. The principal village and administrative centre in Nunavik is Kuujjuaq, on the southern shore of Ungava Bay; the other villages are Inukjuak (where the film Nanook of the North was shot), Salluit, Puvirnituq, Ivujivik, Kangiqsujuaq, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kangirsuk, Tasiujaq, Aupaluk, Akulivik, Quaqtaq and Umiujaq. The village population (census 2001) ranges from 1,932 (Kuujjuaq) to 159 (Aupaluk).

There are no road links between Nunavik and southern Quebec, although the Trans-Taiga Road of the Jamésie region ends near the 55th parallel on the Caniapiscau Reservoir, several hundred kilometers south of Kuujjuaq. There is a year-round air link to all villages and seasonal shipping in the summer and autumn.

[edit] Government

Nunavik, along with the James Bay region (or Jamésie), is part of the administrative region of Nord-du-Québec.

The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement of 1978 led to greater political autonomy for most of the Nunavik region with the founding of the Kativik Regional Government. All inhabitants of the 14 northern villages, both Inuit and non-Inuit, vote in regional elections. The Kativik Regional Government is financed by the Government of Quebec (50%), the Government of Canada (25%) and by local revenues.

The Makivik Corporation, headquartered in Kuujjuaq, represents the Inuit of Northern Quebec in their relations with the governments of Quebec and Canada. They are seeking greater political autonomy for the region and have recently negotiated an agreement defining their traditional rights to use the resources of the offshore islands of Nunavik, all of which are part of the Nunavut Territory.

The Cree village of Whapmagoostui, which forms an enclave on the eastern shore of Hudson's Bay near the northern village of Kuujjuarapik, is part of the Cree Regional Authority which itself has been incorporated into the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee). The Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, of the Côte-Nord region to the south of Nunavik, owns an exclusive hunting and trapping area in southern Nunavik and is represented in the Kativik Regional Government.

The Goverments of Quebec and Canada have recently negociated a land-claims deal with the regional government of Nunavik, giving it complete autonomy in the near future. The creation of a Inuit territory in Quebec would be similar to the creation of the Inuit territory of Nunavut, in which the Inuit people are given more control of the land and resources they use.