Rankin Inlet

Inuktitut

Rankin Inlet is also known in Inuktitut as ; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑲᖏᕿᓂᖅ or Kangirliniq, ᑲᖏᖅᖠᓂᖅ, or Kangir&iniq meaning deep bay/inlet.

History

Archaeological sites suggest the area was inhabited around 1200 CE by Thule people who were bowhead whale hunters. By the late 18th century, they were succeeded by Kivallirmiut (Caribou Inuit) who hunted the inland barren-ground caribou, and fished for Arctic char along the coast, as well as the Diane River and Meliadine River. The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) established itself throughout the bay in the 17th century, and after 1717, sloops from Churchill, Manitoba traded north to Rankin Inlet and beyond. There was an unfortunate expedition shipwrecked on Marble Island, 32 km east of Rankin Inlet: James Knight's expedition died on the island around 1722. It was surveyed by William Moor in 1747. HBC contact was followed in the mid-19th century by American and European whalers, who were followed by fur traders trapping Arctic foxes for their skins in the early 20th century, followed by missionaries who brought a written language system.

The town itself was founded by the owners of the Rankin Inlet Mine, just north of Johnston Cove. Starting in 1957, the mine produced nickel and copper ores from an underground operation. The mine was the first case of Inuit miners in Canada. When the mine closed in 1962, Rankin Inlet had a population of approximately 500 Inuit, and 70-80% had been mine workers. Several unsuccessful attempts followed to develop alternate sources of income for the town. These included a pig ranch in 1969 and a chicken-raising venture in the 1970s. Both animal groups were fed a diet of local fish, which gave the meat an unpleasant flavour. It was also common for the animals to freeze to death or be eaten by polar bears.

The Meliadine Gold Mine operated by Agnico Eagle opened in 2019 and is expected to produce until at least 2032. It is the second mine opened in the low Arctic, after the Meadowbank Gold Mine, and is both an underground and open-pit mine.

From 1985 to 1997, Kivalliq Hall operated as a boarding school for Inuit pupils; it had been recognized as a residential school for the pre-1995 period when it was operated by the Federal government.

Voters chose Iqaluit over Rankin Inlet to become the new territorial capital of Nunavut in the 1995 Nunavut capital plebiscite.

Demographics

|1971|566 |1976|852 |1981|1109 |1986|1374 |1991|1706 |1996|2058 |2001|2177 |2006|2358 |2011|2557 |2016|2842 |2021|2975

In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Rankin Inlet had a population of 2,975 living in 826 of its 1,026 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,842. With a land area of 20.03 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Arts and culture

Rankin Inlet houses the only Inuit fine-arts ceramics production facility in the world. Community artists work in a variety of media including ceramics, prints, bronze castings, carvings, watercolour and drawing. The Matchbox Gallery, founded in 1987, showcases art work and provides educational resources.

The community is served by Kivalliq News, a weekly newspaper which publishes in both English and Inuktitut.

The annual spring festival Pakallak Tyme includes a fishing competition and snowmobile races.

Transportation

Due to the remoteness of the community and the fact that there is no all-season road to access the community, the primary mode of year-round transportation into and out of the community is by airplane. Two passenger airlines fly into the hamlet: Calm Air and Canadian North.

Calm Air flies direct to Winnipeg, with round-trip service twice daily on weekdays. Rankin Inlet serves as a hub for transit further into the Kivalliq region. Destinations from Rankin Inlet include Arviat, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, Coral Harbour, Naujaat, and Whale Cove.

Canadian North also serves the community, with service to Edmonton, Yellowknife, Iqaluit, and Montreal, on a milk-run that flies very infrequently.

The community is also serviced by sealifts originating from Montreal.

Broadband communications

The community has been served by the Qiniq network since 2005. Qiniq is a fixed wireless service to homes and businesses, connecting to the outside world via a satellite backbone. The Qiniq network is designed and operated by SSi Canada. In 2017, the network was upgraded to 4G LTE technology, and 2G-GSM for mobile voice.

Geography

Rankin Inlet is notable for the chilling wind, severe winter storms, and water resources. The Diana River empties from the north into the hamlet's namesake inlet. The Kivalliq Region has several lakes, the largest being Nipissa Lake, and is flanked by two bays, Melvin Bay on the west and Prairie Bay on the east. Paniqtoq Peninsula, on the inlet's far western shore, provides a barrier shelter for the smaller Kivalliq Region. Dozens of islands dot the inlet, including Thomson Island, the largest, and the Barrier Islands, the longest chain. These natural resources attract tourists who hunt, fish, and canoe. The Iqalugaarjuup Nunanga Territorial Park, 10 km northwest of Rankin Inlet, is notable for hiking, fishing, bird watching and Thule archaeological sites.

Climate

Rankin Inlet has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc; Trewartha: Ecld), just short of a tundra climate. It is above the tree line. Temperatures stay below freezing from late September to early June. Although the climate is subarctic, temperatures rise and fall too rapidly and do not stay above 10 C for long enough (30 days) for trees to grow. Under the alternate formula for determining the boundary between Arctic and subarctic climates posited by Otto Nordenskjöld, however, Rankin Inlet, along with Arviat and Baker Lake, qualify as Arctic based on the relationship between the temperatures of the coldest and warmest months; in the case of Rankin Inlet, with a coldest-month (January) mean of -30.1 C, said boundary for the warmest month would be 12.0 C using the Nordenskjöld formula and Rankin Inlet's warmest month (July) averages only 10.9 C.

Beginning on 16 January 2008, Rankin Inlet endured the longest recorded blizzard in Canada. Wind speed was 74 km/h or above, with gusts to 90 km/h, and wind chill values were as low as −58 C. This blizzard lasted 7 days 5 hours.

Notable people

• Jack Anawak, federal and territorial level Inuk politician
• Levinia Brown, territorial level Inuk politician
• Tagak Curley, Inuk politician and a prominent figure in the negotiations that led to the creation of Nunavut
• Piita Irniq, Inuk politician and commissioner of Nunavut
• Peter Ittinuar, first federal level Inuk politician
• Victoria Kakuktinniq, Inuk fashion designer
• Jose Kusugak, Inuk politician, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, married to Nellie Kusugak
• Lorne Kusugak, territorial level Inuk politician
• Michael Kusugak, Inuk storyteller and children's writer
• Nellie Kusugak, Inuk educator and commissioner of Nunavut, married to Jose Kusugak
• Manitok Thompson, territorial level Inuk politician
• John Tiktak, Inuk sculptor
• Hunter Tootoo, former Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
• Jordin Tootoo, former National Hockey League player

Notes

References

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