Western Arctic Western Arctic
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WELCOMEWELCOME TOTO CANADA’sCANADA’s For further Fishing and Calendar information… Hunting of events WesternWestern Please contact: If you are between the Our communities celebrate special events year round and Tourism and Parks – ages of 16 and 65 and invite you to join them in the fun! January Arctic Industry, Tourism and Investment, fish here, you must carry Arctic Government of the Northwest Territories, an NWT fishing licence, Inuvik Sunrise Festival, first week of January. Bag Service #1 COM, Inuvik NT X0E 0T0 Canada available from most March e-mail: [email protected] hardware and sporting Inuvik Canadian Airlines Phone: (867) 777-7196 Fax: (867) 777-7321 goods stores in nearly all International Curling Bonspiel. NWT Arctic Tourism – Inkit Ltd. communities. April Phone Toll Free: 1-800-661-0788 All persons wishing to Inuvik Muskrat Jamboree, www.spectacularnwt.com hunt or carry firearms in first weekend. National Parks – Canada must obtain the required licence. Revolvers, pistols Tuktoyaktuk Beluga Jamboree, Canadian Heritage, Parks Canada, and automatic weapons are prohibited entry into Canada. second weekend. Western Arctic District Offices, Non-residents wishing to hunt big game require the services Leslie Leong Inuvik Top of the World Cross- Box 1840, Inuvik NT X0E 0T0 of an outfitter who will provide a licensed guide. country Ski Loppet, mid-month. Phone: (867) 777-8600 Fax: (867) 777-8820 Aklavik Mad Trapper’s www.parkscanada.gc.ca Jamboree, Easter weekend. Land Claim Fort McPherson Peel River Jamboree, last weekend. Visitor information centres: May The Dempster-Delta Visitor Centre – Dawson City, Yukon Agreements Sachs Harbour White Fox Jamboree, first weekend. Open third week of May to third week of September. June The Inuvialuit, The Western Arctic Regional Visitor Centre – Inuvik Inuvik Petroleum Show, second week. Gwich’in and Sahtu Nitainlaii Visitor Centre – Nitainlaii Park Inuvialuit Settlement Area Ride for Sight, second weekend. All open from the end of May to mid-September. Gwich'in Settlement Area Dene peoples have Aboriginal Day and Midnight Fun Run, June 21. Sahtu Settlement Area all successfully Other useful contacts: Holman Kingalok Jamboree, mid-month. negotiated land Aklavik Pokiak River Festival, month end. Weather forecasts – claim agreements July (867) 777-4183 with the Federal Inuvik Canada Day celebration, July 1. Royal Canadian Mounted Police – Government of Inuvik Parks Day, mid-month. Fort McPherson (867) 952-1111 Canada. Inuvik Great Northern Arts Festival, third week. Inuvik (867) 777-1111 The result has Holman Billy Joss Golf Tournament, month end. Hospitals – August been a significant Fort McPherson (867) 952-2586 Fort McPherson Midway Lake Music Festival. degree of self- Inuvik (867) 777-8000 Paulatuk Ilhalakpik Jamboree. government, Communities – Inuvik Music Festival, third weekend. administration Inuvik – www.inuvik.ca, www.inuvikinfo.com September and economic Aklavik Dizzy Days, Labour Day weekend. development for Inuvik Demolition Derby, Labour Day weekend. the people, and a strong revival of traditional skills, culture November and languages. Great Northern Arts Festival Christmas Craft and Gift Sale, third weekend. Leslie Leong Arts and crafts, on the other hand, may often be purchased moose and muskrat, and summer nesting site of more than The Land at the source for significantly less than might be paid to a Parks and a million migrant waterfowl, it protects the migration routes southern gallery or dealer. of the 170,000 strong Porcupine caribou herd. of The Two major airlines offer daily jet service to Inuvik Wildlife Ivvavik National Park is 10,200 from southern Canada and scheduled service is available sq. km. (3,900 sq. mi.) of mostly from Whitehorse and Dawson City, Yukon. Travel within treeless tundra at the lower levels Midnight Sun the region can be arranged with local airlines and tour Sanctuaries and alpine tundra toward the Enjoy the companies. Scheduled flights into Tuktoyaktuk and Aklavik The natural beauty of the Western Arctic seems British Mountains. As with Vuntut incredible natural are daily, but flights to Sachs Harbour, Paulatuk and unchanged since the beginning of time. In fact, it includes Park, most of Ivvavik was untouched beauty of this vast Ulukhaktok (Holman) are limited. Scheduled service to one of the few areas on the continent that has remained by the glaciers of the last ice age land, the lifestyles Ulukhaktok (Holman) is also available from Yellowknife. unglaciated for over 100,000 years, resulting in unique because the local climate was of peoples that We recommend that you landscapes and life forms. just too dry. It forms part of the have lived here for plan your trip to any of these Imagine a sea of wildflowers basking in the sun of a ‘Beringia Refugia’, the richest area thousands of years, communities in advance, summer day that is six weeks long, above a permanently in Canada for traces of ice-age and the hospitality confirming accommodations frozen layer of earth hundreds of feet deep! Leslie Leong animals – woolly mammoth, giant and service that and guide services prior to Inuvik is the gateway to one of Yukon’s territorial parks beavers and even camels! Today you Malak await you. These departure, in order to avoid and several of Canada’s national parks. Each of them offers a may see grizzly or black bear while are the things that possible disappointment. unique experience. rafting down the Firth River, through the calving grounds of provide a refreshing You can paddle the The national parks have no visitor centres, services or the Porcupine caribou. Over 130,000 snow geese stage here adventure. Mackenzie River and cruise trails – they really are true wilderness. If you intend to visit, in the early fall, before migrating south. This vast northern land is far from the bustle of crowded or navigate the Northwest you are recommended to either use the aid of guides, or Tuktut Nogait National Park Reserve protects the calving urban centres and is rich with heritage and culture that Passage. These are all come prepared for totally self-sufficient travel. Registration grounds of the Bluenose herd of 125,000 caribou. Some reach thousands of years into the past. There is a natural Leslie Leong specialized trips and you with parks services and a permit are mandatory. 16,340 sq. km. (6,300 sq. mi.) in area, the park includes the flow to the pace of life and an ageless tradition of should contact us for further Herschel Island was spectacular canyons of the Brock and Hornaday Rivers and hospitality. There are many services available to make your information. Yukon’s first territorial the 23-metre (75 feet) high La Ronciere Falls. It sustains one journey, and your stay, a pleasant and fulfilling experience. We strongly recommend the use of only licensed park. About 1,000 years of the highest densities of birds of prey in North America. There are many varied activities that we can offer; some outfitters and lodges and advise that when making bookings ago the Thule people Aulavik National Park, is located in the Thomsen River involving significant expense, like tours to communities or you request proof that such services are indeed licensed. inhabited the island. area on northern Banks Island. The Inuvialuit name Aulavik flightseeing tours; but many are free or low in cost, like Whatever the Weather – a Land of Contrasts There is also evidence means “where people travel”. The 12,300 sq. km. (4,750 sq. walking trails, fishing, birding, viewing the unique flowers The Western Arctic Region enjoys 24-hour daylight to be found of later mi.) park has some of the highest concentrations of muskox and wildlife, cultural experiences, river trips or just enjoying approximately six months of the year, but the weather can Mike Beedell seasonal occupations by in the world, 60,000 or more, up to half the total world our “northern hospitality”. be unpredictable. There is the possibility of chilly, windy or Inuvialuit hunters. In the population of this unusual mammal. The Western rainy days and occasionally frost, but on the other hand, late 19th century it was Bird Sanctuaries – The Bird Sanctuaries at Banks Island Arctic is a remote temperatures can rise to 30ºC (86ºF), so be prepared for all used as a base by American and European whalers. You can #1 and #2, Cape Parry, Anderson River Delta, and Kendall region and prices do eventualities. still see the buildings from those turbulent times and the Island provide reflect that food and Although it can be cold, the beauty of winter in the wooden grave markers of the whalers who died and were protected tidal other supplies have Western Arctic is extraordinary. Temperatures can dip to buried there. In July and August, both beluga and bowhead flat and estuarine been transported minus 30ºC (-22ºF), but the sky is clear, the aurora borealis is whales may be seen offshore and sightings of caribou and summer habitat thousands of miles. dancing, frost covers the countryside and by March we are muskox are possible. You can also see some 70 species of for thousands of You will find costs experiencing 18 hours of daylight. Here you can experience birds and 135 arctic flora here. Park wardens and a few migratory swans, for travel, food and the vast quietude as the wilderness of the Mackenzie Delta residents live on the island from June to September. geese, ducks and Richard Hartmier accommodation sleeps under a blanket of snow. The key to comfort is to Vuntut National Park – 4,400 sq. km. (1,700 sq. mi.) of other shore birds. may be higher than layer your clothing to suit the temperature. Old Crow Flats, home of the Vuntut Gwich’in people, is a Leslie Leong in more accessible Drive the ice road to Aklavik or Tuktoyaktuk from late huge wetlands plain with more than 20,000 shallow lakes, areas.