Article

Kangiqsualujjuaq

Published Online October 24, 2007

Last Edited March 4, 2015

A Hudson's Bay Company's trading post operated intermittently in the area from 1838 to 1952. A sawmill near the trading post attracted a permanent population, and the establishment of an arctic CHAR fishing co-operative in 1959 cemented the community's existence.

Kangiqsualujjuaq

 Kangiqsualujjuaq, Qué, Village, pop 735 (2006c), 710 (2001c), area 35.05 km2, incorporated in 1980. Kangiqsualujjuaq is an INUIT community on the east coast of UNGAVA BAY. Located at the mouth of the GEORGE RIVIÈRE, it is surrounded by heavily glacial-scoured rolling highlands.

A Hudson's Bay Company's trading post operated intermittently in the area from 1838 to 1952. A sawmill near the trading post attracted a permanent population, and the establishment of an arctic CHAR fishing co-operative in 1959 cemented the community's existence. The new community was first known as Port Nouveau-Québec, but its present name, Kangiqsualujjuaq, which means "very large bay" in Inuktitut, was adopted upon incorporation in 1980. Residents rely on a traditional economy of hunting for caribou, seal and BELUGA WHALE as well as fishing. Kangiqsualujjuaq is one of the gateways to TORNGAT MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK.

The village received national attention when a devastating AVALANCHE destroyed the school's gymnasium during New Year's eve celebrations for 1999. Nine people in the packed gymnasium were killed.

See alsoAVALANCHE IN QUEBEC.