Umingmaktok

Umingmaktok (Inuinnaqtun: Umingmaktuuq, "he or she caught a muskox") is a now abandoned settlement located on Bathurst Inlet in the Kitikmeot of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The community was previously known as Bay Chimo and the Inuit refer to the community as Umingmaktuuq ("like a musk ox").

The traditional language of the area was Inuinnaqtun and is written using the Latin alphabet rather than the syllabics of the Inuktitut writing system. Like Cambridge Bay, Bathurst Inlet and Kugluktuk syllabics are rarely seen and used mainly by the Government of Nunavut.

The area around Umingmaktuuq is said to be rich in wildlife such as the Arctic fox, fur seals, barren-ground caribou, Arctic char and muskox.

With less than two dozen residents, Umingmaktuuq was one of the smallest permanent non-military communities in Nunavut. At one time, the community had a school that provided education up to Grade 6. Later, any students were flown to Cambridge Bay and returned to the community only for the summer and Christmas.

The community had no electricity other than that provided by portable generators, and communication with the outside world was by satellite phone. The only access to the community was by chartered aircraft, and the landing strip divided Umingmaktuuq in half. On one side was the old Hudson's Bay Company buildings and the Co-op store. On the other side was the main residential area.

History

In 1920, Christian Klengenberg over-wintered in Bathurst Inlet to trap fox for the fur trade. At that time, Copper Inuit who still lived a traditional lifestyle settled at Umingmaktok seasonally in the winter.

In 1964, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) relocated its post from Bathurst Inlet to Umingmaktok (but was still called the Bathurst Inlet post). It closed in 1970.

In 1986, Umingmaktok was still permanently inhabited and had a general store, one-room school house (with kindergarten to grade 3 - higher grades were taught by correspondence), and about 12 single-room homes built in the 1960s. Supplies would be brought in from Cambridge Bay by barge or by snowmobile in the winter. Medical services were provided 3 times per year, while police would come from the Cambridge Bay RCMP detachment only as needed.

Demographics

In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Umingmaktok had a population of 0, no change from its 2016 population. With a land area of 99.95 km² (38.59 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.0/km² (0.0/sq mi) in 2021.

References

Regional Analysis of the West Kitikmeot Archived 2005-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
Nunavut Handbook - Joe Otokiak
Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut - PDF Dialect Map
Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut - Writing systems