| Padlei | |
| Pushpin Map: | Canada Nunavut#Canada |
| Coordinates: | 61.9167°N -136°W |
| Caption: | Location in Nunavut |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Territory |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nunavut |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Kivalliq |
| Type: | Ghost town |
Padlei is a former community in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located on the mainland on the north shore of Kinga (Kingarvalik) Lake at the juncture of the Maguse River. Whale Cove is to the east, while the Henik Lakes are to the southwest.
The community was where, during the 1950 Caribou Inuit famine, photographer Richard Harrington took his iconic photo of a starving Caribou Inuit mother, pressing her nose and lips to those of her youngest child.[1] On February 8, 1950 a few days before Harrington wrote in his journal:
Containing three buildings,[2] Padlei was the site of a trading post operated by the Hudson's Bay Company from 1926 to 1960. The subgroup of Caribou Inuit who frequented the post were the Padleimiut (or Padlirmiut, or Paallirmiut, or Patlirmiut).