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Aklavik, NWT, incorporated as a hamlet in 1974, population 633 (2011c), 594 (2006c). The Hamlet of Aklavik is located near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, 1143 air km northwest of Yellowknife.
Aklavik, NWT, incorporated as a hamlet in 1974, population 633 (2011c), 594 (2006c). The Hamlet of Aklavik is located near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, 1143 air km northwest of Yellowknife. The name, of Inuvialuit origin, means "place of the barren land grizzly bears." It was a major centre of the Mackenzie delta region in the 1950s, but owing to serious flooding most facilities were relocated to the nearby Inuvik site in 1961.
The community is called "the town that wouldn't die" by the Inuvialuit and Gwich'in Dene, who refused to relocate. In 1931-32 it was a base for the pursuit of the "Mad Trapper of Rat River," Albert Johnson. Most residents subsist on hunting, trapping and fishing.
