Visitor Guide Photo Pat Morrow Bear’s Gut Contact Us Nain Office Nunavik Office Telephone: 709-922-1290 (English) Telephone: 819-337-5491 Torngat Mountains National Park has 709-458-2417 (French) (English and Inuttitut) two offices: the main Administration Toll Free: 1-888-922-1290 Toll Free: 1-888-922-1290 (English) office is in Nain, Labrador (open all E-Mail: [email protected] 709-458-2417 (French) year), and a satellite office is located in Fax: 709-922-1294 E-Mail: [email protected] Kangiqsualujjuaq in Nunavik (open from Fax: 819-337-5408 May to the end of October). Business hours Mailing address: Mailing address: are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Torngat Mountains National Park Torngat Mountains National Park, Box 471, Nain, NL Box 179 Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik, QC A0P 1L0 J0M 1N0 Street address: Street address: Illusuak Cultural Centre Building 567, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik, QC 16 Ikajutauvik Road, Nain, NL In Case Of Emergency In case of an emergency in the park, Be prepared to tell the dispatcher: assistance will be provided through the • The name of the park following 24 hour emergency numbers at • Your name Jasper Dispatch: • Your sat phone number 1-877-852-3100 or 1-780-852-3100. • The nature of the incident • Your location - name and Lat/Long or UTM NOTE: The 1-877 number may not work • The current weather – wind, precipitation, with some satellite phones so use cloud cover, temperature, and visibility 1-780-852-3100. 1 Welcome to TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Torngat Mountains National Park 1 Welcome 2 An Inuit Homeland The spectacular landscape of Torngat Mountains Planning Your Trip 4 Your Gateway to Torngat National Park protects 9,700 km2 of the Northern Mountains National Park 5 Torngat Mountains Base Labrador Mountains natural region. The park extends Camp and Research Station 6 Where is the Park? (Map 1) from Saglek Fjord in the south, including all islands 7 Getting to the Park and islets, to the very northern tip of Labrador, from 9 Local Resources and Services Experiences the provincial boundary with Quebec in the west to the 12 The Inuit Story waters of the Labrador Sea in the east. 13 Map of the Park (Map 2) 15 Map of Saglek Bay (Map 3) 16 Perspectives of the Land 18 Walk in the Footsteps of The story of the establishment of this park is a story Inuit Ancestors 19 Kitjigattalik, Ramah Chert of working with Inuit as equal partners. Parks Canada Quarries National Historic Site recognizes and honours their special historical What To Know Before You Go and cultural relationship with the land, and Inuit 20 Everyone MUST Register 20 You MUST deregister knowledge is incorporated in all aspects of park 20 Park Entry Fees 20 Safety Briefing management. In fact, co-operative management is a 21 Understanding the Risks defining feature of our park, and one that we view as a 24 What Should I Bring? shared accomplishment. Out On The Land 26 Hiking in the Park 28 Topographical Maps 29 Preparing for an Torngat Mountains National Park is a special place. Independent Trip 29 Information Required for We hope you will enjoy its magnificent natural heritage Registration and discover its rich cultural history during your visit. 30 Leave No Trace Bear Safety 32 Preventing an encounter 34 Choosing a safe campsite We want to help you plan your visit! 37 Handling an encounter 38 Inuit Bear Guards in Torngat Mountains National Park If you have any questions about Torngat Mountains Protecting Torngat Mountains National Park, we invite you to contact us, and if you National Park 40 Important to know are planning a trip here, we encourage you to talk to 41 Conservation and Protection Regulations us about your plans. We can discuss the exceptional 42 Special Management Areas 44 Words We Live By: A Torngat experience of the national park, and talk about the Mountains Glossary realities of travelling in it and being safe. We want to 46 All About Inuttitut 48 Additional Information About help make sure your trip exceeds all your expectations! The Region 49 Tell Us About Your Visit! An Inuit Homeland Torngat Mountains National Park is an Inuit homeland. Inuit families have lived, traveled and hunted among the mountains, valleys, rivers and fjords along the coast of Northern Labrador for centuries, and have deep cultural connections to the land and the animals who roam here. Julie Tompa 3 Established as Torngat Mountains After Newfoundland and Labrador National Park Reserve in 2005 with joined Confederate Canada in 1949, the signing of the Labrador Inuit Inuit living in smaller or more Land Claims Agreement, the park northerly settlements were forcibly reserve transitioned to a national moved into permanent communities park in 2008 when the Nunavik Inuit further south. Some families moved Land Claim Agreement was signed. to northern Quebec (Nunavik) and Erected with the consent of Inuit some moved to communities along of the region, Torngat Mountains the coast in Labrador (Nunatsiavut). Wayne Broomfield Wayne National Park has been described Ramah Bay as “an Inuit gift to the people of Many Inuit living in Nunavik and Canada.” Nunatsiavut today are related and maintain close connections with Inuit lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle one another and their ancestral on the land now encompassed by the homeland. The rights of Inuit park, travelling on foot, by boat, and Beneficiaries of both the Labrador with dog sleds from place to place. Inuit Land Claims Agreement Stretching from Saglek Bay in the and Nunavik Inuit Land Claims southern region of the park, west to Agreement to hunt, fish and harvest Ungava Bay, and to Cape Chidley in within the boundaries of Torngat the north, Inuit travelled and lived Mountains National Park are Pat Morrow throughout this landscape, following protected, and Inuit continue to Sallikuluk, (Rose Island) migratory animals on their seasonal travel to the park throughout the hunt. Archaeological resources that year to harvest as they have in the help tell the stories of the lives of past. The elders that have lived on early Inuit and their predecessors this land like to share their stories are found throughout the park in the with the younger generation of Inuit. form of food caches, tent rings, Their life experiences of survival, burial sites, hunting blinds and traditional living, hunting, the ancient inuksuit. changing climate and weather, and the animals help to inspire European missionaries settled in younger Inuit to maintain a sense Northern Labrador in the 1700’s, of connection to their culture and establishing a number of missions their land. along the coast that impacted the traditional travel routes and patterns Many of these important stories of Inuit. Some Inuit families began are not just for Inuit ears – they are living in the small communities meant to be shared and passed on that were established around these freely to visitors to this special place missions, but most continued to live and carried into the world beyond. “with the land,” keeping rhythm with At Torngat Mountains National the seasons and the animals. In the Park, we invite you to see this place 1800’s, foreign fishing interests and through Inuit eyes, share in the Mandy ArnoldMandy Hudson Bay Company trading posts stories of this Inuit homeland, and Base Camp joined the mission stations along the grow to understand the rich cultural coast. Although settlements attracted relevance of the beautiful landscape some families, Inuit continued to that surrounds you. travel to their traditional hunting and fishing grounds, and until the 1950s, many families lived as their ancestors had: on the land. Julie Tompa Heiko WittenbornHeiko Planning your trip Gary Baikie Your Gateway to Torngat Mountains National Park Each summer, on the banks of a beach where a river meets a sea, a small community is established on the edge of the J.C. Roy J.C. park. This is Torngat Mountains Base Camp and Inuit Tent, Torngat Basecamp Research Station, operated by an Inuit business. Here, Inuit elders and youth from Nunatsiavut and Nunavik stay together with visitors, researchers and Parks Canada staff. Parks Canada manages a visitor Torngat Mountains Base Camp and reception and orientation centre Research Station is a Destination and has an administrative office Canada Signature Experience Pat Morrow here during the summer months. and was awarded the Hospitality In addition to the daily excursions Newfoundland and Labrador to the park and programming Sustainable Tourism Award in offered by Torngat Mountains Base 2013. In 2014, the international Camp and Research Station, Parks association Educational Travel Canada facilitates opportunities Community honoured the business as for shared experiences between all a Responsible Tourism Showcase. guests, inspiring profound personal experiences that move far beyond taking pictures of beautiful scenery. Parks Canada 5 Rodd Laing Gary Baikie Geoff Goodyear Torngat Mountains Base Camp and Research Station Labrador Inuit owned-and-operated, Torngat Mountains Base Camp and Research Station is generally open for visitors from late July to late August and is located in Rodd Laing beautiful Kangidluasuk (St. John’s Harbour), a bay in Saglek Fjord adjacent to the southern boundary of the park. Visitors who have purchased furnished heated domes and canvas packages through Torngat Mountains shelters to standard mountaineering Base Camp and Research Station tents. Visitors also have the option use this base camp as their “home of pitching their own tents. There away from home” during their stay, is a full-serve kitchen and dining and independent travellers can use area that provides breakfast, lunch, the base camp and its services as a supper, and snacks. Torngat Base starting point for their travels in Camp staff are on-hand to assist the park.