Ukkusiksalik National Park

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Ukkusiksalik National Park
Ukkusiksalik National Park (Canada)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 65 ° 20 ′ 30 ″  N , 87 ° 18 ′ 20 ″  W.
Location: Nunavut , Canada
Next city: Naujaat
Surface: 20,500 km²
Founding: 2003
Address: Nunavut Field Unit Office of Parks Canada
P.O. Box 278
Iqaluit, Nunavut
Tel. (867) 975-4673
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The Ukkusiksalik National Park ( English Ukkusiksalik National Park of Canada , French Parc national du Canada Ukkusiksalik ) was founded on August 23, 2003 as the fourth national park in the Nunavut Territory ( Canada ). It extends immediately south of the Arctic Circle and the settlement of Naujaat from Hudson Bay ( Roes Welcome Sound ) to the west into the "Barrenlands" to the sources of the Brown River and, with an area of ​​just over 20,000 km², is the smallest national park of Nunavut, but the sixth largest of the more than 40 national parks in Canada . The name of the park goes back to the occurrence of steatite minerals; Ukkusiksalik means "where there is material for the stone pot".

history

Ukkusiksalik National Park: site map

Relatively little is known about the history of Wager Bay and the people living on its shores, as only nomadic Inuit lived here until the 19th century , and the events (common among the Inuit) only passed on orally. A conspicuous number of stone testimonies, above all tent rings, Inuksuit and the remains of storage facilities and shelters, however, prove that the coasts of Wager Bay have been inhabited by people for thousands of years. In the past few years around 500 archaeologically interesting sites have been identified - both from the Dorset culture (500 BC to 1000 AD) and from the Thule culture (from around 1000 to 1800) and from the last two centuries.

The Inuit of the Barrenlands , the apparently barren and barren tundras on the western edge of Hudson Bay, were not a single tribe, but families of different tribes. The Ukkusiksalingmiut came from the Back River and Hayes River area , the Aivilingmiut from Repulse Bay , the Qairnirmiut from the Baker Lake and Chesterfield Inlet regions, and the Natsilingmiut from the Kugaaruk and Taloyoak area .

First European

Relics of the Thule culture : Qarmaq (sod house) in the Tinittuktuq Flats (Wager Bay)

In 1742 Christopher Middleton (around 1690-1770) entered the fjord with his Bombarde Furnace as the first European and was held there by drift ice for several weeks. He named the inlet after the first lord of the British Admiralty , Sir Charles Wager (1666-1743), and a bay in which he was anchored, as Douglas Harbor after the sponsors of his expedition, James and Henry Douglas. He also gave a large group of islands in Wager Bay its name, Savage Islands, after the "savage Eskimos", wild Eskimos that he met here. Middleton found no more sea route to the west, the Northwest Passage , than did William Moor († 1765) with the sloop Discovery five years after him . Since the region was too remote for the Europeans and therefore meaningless, the bay was not mentioned again until more than a hundred years later when the well-known American explorer Charles Francis Hall on the two-masted sailing ship in search of Sir John Franklin's missing expedition team Monticello got into the Roes-Welcome-Sound and had to spend the winter with his Inuit leaders in their camp at the entrance to Wager Bay . In 1879, an American expedition headed by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka passed Wager Bay by land in search of Sir John Franklin. But it was only with the consistent opening up of more and more areas of northern Canada for the trade in animal skins that Wager Bay was finally wrested from oblivion.

Early 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Canadian government finally showed interest in the Wager Bay region and sent the geologist Albert Peter Low on the Neptune there with the task of establishing Canada's sovereignty over the arctic north.

Around the same time, in 1900, the American whaler George Washington Cleveland single-handedly built a whaling station at the entrance to the bay, but it only lasted four years. After the abandonment of Cleveland's station, Scottish whalers in particular sought their luck hunting marine mammals in the area for a while. As a testimony to their presence, iron harpoon tips and other legacies can still be found on the Savage Islands today. In 1910 the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, forerunner of the RCMP ) established a police post near the Savage Islands on the Wager Bay coast - but only for a short time; today only the wreckage of a police boat lying there testifies to the presence of the police at the time.

In 1915, George Cleveland opened the region's first trading post at the entrance to Wager Bay, but that too only lasted for a short time. In 1919 Cleveland, now in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), set up a new temporary trading post at the Wager Estuary. His task was to transfer parts of the building for the construction and expansion of an HBC post on Repulse Bay. Due to its favorable location at the northern end of Roes-Welcome Sound, it played an important role in the further development of the north by the Hudson's Bay Company.

Trading Post on Ford Lake

Abandoned Hudson's Bay Company trading post on Ford Lake

In parallel to these local activities, the Hudson's Bay Company began at the beginning of the 20th century with great effort to generally pursue a new corporate strategy in order to gain competitive advantages in the fur trade: They wanted to trade with the help of a diversified network of posts throughout the area of ​​the Barrenlands northwest control the Hudson Bay to the north coast of the mainland. According to these plans, the key role was to be played by a trading post set far inland at the far end of Wager Bay. The new post was supposed to include the entire habitat of the Ukkusiksalingmiut up to the mouth of the Back River, 250 kilometers to the northwest, in the trading strategy of the Hudson's Bay Company and , if possible, to prevent the trading of a competitor, the Revillon Frères , from Baker Lake . The success of this strategy was ultimately shown in the fact that the Revillon Frères were bought by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1936. In the late summer of 1925 the two-masted yacht Fort Chesterfield ran into the inlet. With the help of local Inuit knowledge, a sheltered bay was found at the far end of Tusjujak, later named Ford Lake after the post manager JL Ford who worked there in 1929, and the planned strategic trading post was built there.

In the first few years, those working here succeeded in largely meeting the expectations of the company's management in the new trading posts. Not only was the usual commodity offered, but help was given in general, not least (as far as possible) medical care. This created a general meeting place and central place for the exchange of messages between the various, often widely scattered Inuit camps. In December 1929 z. For example, on a single day 22 Inuit families with a total of 107 people were counted who camped here in their igloos. A little later, however, the fur trade, which had been booming until then, collapsed. In 1933 the Hudson's Bay Company finally converted the initially promising trading post into an outpost and transferred the management to Iqungajuq, Wager-Dick, an Inuk who was given the opportunity to continue trading in wild animal fur under his own responsibility. With the help of his family, who now moved into the building of the post, he ran the Hudson's Bay Company branch until 1946.

Catholic missionaries ( Oblate Fathers ), who came here again and again in those years, set up a small mission building on one of the Savage Islands, but the mission never became more important. When the Hudson's Bay Company's activities ended in the mid-1940s and the Inuit abandoned their camps in favor of more secure settlements, the missionaries also withdrew.

present

Sila Lodge on Wager Bay

30 years later, some Inuit from Rankin Inlet tried from 1979 to 1981 to revive their old home on Ford Lake, but it failed.

In autumn 1986 and in spring 1987 descendants of the Inuit formerly living in the Ukkusiksalik area built a lodge for nature lovers, the "Sila Lodge", on the north coast of Wager Bay. It was only open for a few weeks in summer; The rest of the time, however, the Ukkusiksalik National Park remained practically untouched by humans. Since 2002, a lot of effort involved in transporting tourists by air has made it impossible for the owners to continue operating the lodge.

landscape

Sila River and Wager Bay

On the northwest corner of Hudson Bay, about two hundred kilometers north-east of the settlement Chesterfield Inlet , begins at Cape Fullerton and Cape Kendall of Roes-Welcome Sound, which extends between the Barren Lands of Kivalliq (literally "the edge of the mainland") and Southampton Iceland to north to Repulse Bay with the same name, at the Arctic circle lie settlement covers. Almost exactly in the geographic center of the sound, the western shore line at Cape Dobbs is interrupted by an arm of the sea, Wager Bay.

This wager bay is the heart of the national park. The entrance to the bay is relatively narrow, like a long bottleneck. With a length of over 30 kilometers, it is only about four kilometers wide at its narrowest point. The unusually strong tides with height differences of up to eight meters cause extraordinary current conditions in this bottle-neck-like strait, which lead to massive accumulations of ice masses during most of the year and prevent or even prevent boats from passing through. With the high tide, the water of Roes-Welcome-Sound flows from the east into Wager Bay and, when the ice melts in early summer, washes icebergs and large amounts of drift ice into the strait. If the water flows back into the sound at low tide, it drives these ice masses into the constriction and thus clogs the entrance to Wager Bay like a cork for hours and even days.

In some places Wager Bay is more than 250 meters deep. Behind the strait that forms the entrance, it widens to a width of 25 to 35 kilometers and penetrates into the Kivalliq Barrenland as an almost 200 kilometers long fjord to the northwest. It extends up to the 66th parallel and approaches the Arctic Circle up to about 40 kilometers.

Towards its western end, the bay tapers again and is even here exposed to the special influence of the tides: The inflow and outflow of water allows between Wager Bay and its western extension, Ford Lake (Tusjujak in Inuktitut ) so-called “Reversing Falls” arise - reversing currents influenced by the tides. So far only three such reversal currents are known in Canada; 30 kilometers east of the city of Bodø in the Norwegian province of Nordland there are similar currents, the Saltstraumen , which are considered to be the strongest tidal currents on earth.

The characteristic subsurface of the national park's tundra is the Canadian shield .

Climatic conditions

In general, the national park is dominated by an arctic maritime climate. It is characterized by relatively low rainfall, combined with low temperatures and strong winds; some of the highest wind chill factors and the strongest snow drifts in North America are observed here. Because of these peculiar climatic conditions, the national park is assigned to the High Arctic. It is also noteworthy that a mountain range towering steeply on the south bank of Wager Bay and furrowed by former glacier hollows causes weather conditions that are significantly different from those found in the more southern regions. Under the influence of Hudson Bay, temperature drops with heavy fog formation and snow storms occur in early autumn in summer. Wager Bay will not be completely free of ice until the end of July. From November to May the days are short, the temperatures are low and the wind chill factors are high, from May to September the days are long and temperatures are cool to very warm, from September to November the temperatures drop well below freezing point and it blows violent storms.

fauna

Male polar bear climbing onto a drifting ice floe out of Wager Bay seawater
Two young caribou at low tide on Wager Bay

According to previous zoological research results, mammals are represented by 16 species. On the south coast of Wager Bay there is an extensive area of ​​birth caves for polar bears , and therefore males and mothers with cubs can be observed up close on boat trips all over the coast, on the many islands or in the water in the summer. On hikes and even directly at the Sila Lodge, one encounters caribou and curious ground squirrels ( ground squirrels ) again and again . The shy lemmings are less common. Difficult to recognize because of their summer camouflage fur are the relatively common arctic foxes and arctic hares ; mostly one discovers the latter through their escape movement. With a lot of luck you will occasionally get an arctic wolf , a musk ox , a mountain hare or even a wolverine in front of the camera lens. Marine mammals are represented in large numbers by ringed seals and bearded seals . Sometimes a walrus or seal gets lost in Wager Bay, and every now and then a white whale or narwhal appears. Only 4 species of fish have been reported so far. In addition to the arctic char (also known as wandering char), there are lake trout , sea ​​hares and nine-spined sticklebacks .

Bird lovers can spot up to 40 species of birds. In summary, the following are listed here:

flora

On the one hand, the national park represents a typical rock-rich tundra area, on the other hand, in addition to the usual algae, mosses and lichens, a flora of 25 higher plant families (monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants) thrives here, which, although closely related to the European alpine flora , thrive directly Comparison not infrequently shows differences in the individual species. The following families and their species have so far been found in the national park, some of them closely socialized:

Silberwurz - "Flower of the Northwest Territories"
Purple Saxifrage - "Flower of Nunavut Territory"

tourism

Usually a visit to the Ukkusiksalik National Park is only possible during a few summer weeks (from the beginning of July to the beginning of August). Before that, Wager Bay is still too icy to be driven on by motorboat, and then the Inuit statement applies: "In summer you look after the polar bears, but then the polar bears look after you!"

The park can only be reached by charter plane - usually from the Baker Lake settlement about 350 kilometers away , which can be reached by scheduled flight from Rankin Inlet (information on this is available from the local Baker Lake Lodge). You can also take a motorboat from Naujaat , where Parks Canada has a branch, to Wager Bay, but this is a route that depends on the drift ice conditions and is more time-consuming and is therefore more suitable for research or TV camera teams.

"Second waterfall" of the Sila River

The Sila Lodge served as the place to stay and the starting point for the park area until 2002; On an esker near the lodge there is a runway for smaller charter planes such as the Twin Otter ( De Havilland Canada DHC-6 ). Guided tours were offered from the Sila Lodge, e.g. B. by boat across the Wager Bay to its islands and through the "reversing falls" to Ford Lake with the abandoned trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company or on foot in the surrounding area.

Around Wager Bay you will find impressive evidence of earlier settlement such as tent rings, qarmait (sod huts) and Inuksuit as well as relics of the Hudson's Bay Company and the Roman Catholic missionaries.

Hiking routes

"Fourth waterfall" of the Sila River - the smoothly ground rock is a characteristic example of the geological formation "Canadian Shield"

In the hinterland of Wager Bay you can hike river valleys like that of the Sila River with great waterfalls and lakes. Some hiking trails for this:

  • To the first (lowest) waterfall of the Sila River - total route: 4 kilometers | Walking time: 1 hour | Total time of the tour: 1.5 hours | Difference in altitude: 40 meters | Highest elevation: 40 meters | Difficulty level: easy
  • Over the Tinittuktuq lowlands (Tinittuktuq Flats) - total route: 6 kilometers | Hiking time: 1.5 hours | Total time of the tour: 5 hours | Difference in altitude: 80 meters | Highest elevation: 30 meters | Difficulty level: easy
  • To the ship's cove - total route: 10 kilometers | Hiking time: 2.5 hours | Total time of the tour: 4 hours | Difference in altitude: 50 meters | Highest elevation: 30 meters | Difficulty level: easy to moderate
  • To the second waterfall of the Sila River - total route: 8 kilometers | Hiking time: 2.5 hours | Total time of the tour: 5 hours | Difference in altitude: 160 meters | Highest elevation: 110 meters | Difficulty level: moderate
  • To the third and fourth waterfalls of the Sila River and to the Falcon Gorge - total route: 8 kilometers | Hiking time: 2.5 hours | Total time of the tour: 5 hours | Difference in altitude: 160 meters | Highest elevation: 110 meters | Difficulty level: moderate to difficult
  • The Fisherman's Hike - Total route: 10 kilometers | Hiking time: 3 hours | Total time of the tour: 5 hours | Difference in altitude: 200 meters | Highest elevation: 150 meters | Difficulty level: moderate to difficult
  • To the Butterfly Lake - Total route: 16 kilometers | Hiking time: 5 hours | Total time of the tour: 8 hours | Difference in altitude: 400 meters | Highest elevation: 250 meters | Difficulty level: very difficult

literature

  • Nunavut Handbook . Iqaluit 2004, ISBN 0-9736754-0-3
  • Ansgar Walk: The polar bear came late in the evening - sketches from Wager Bay . Pendragon Verlag, Bielefeld 2002, ISBN 3-934872-22-0

Web links

Commons : Ukkusiksalik National Park  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 19, 2006 .