Quaqtaq Explained

Quaqtaq
Native Name:ᖁᐊᕐᑕᖅ
Native Name Lang:ike
Settlement Type:Northern village municipality
Pushpin Map:Canada Quebec
Pushpin Mapsize:197
Coordinates:61.0333°N -106°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Type2:Region
Subdivision Name2:Nord-du-Québec
Subdivision Type3:TE
Subdivision Name3:Kativik
Established Title1:Constituted
Established Date1:November 1, 1980
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Jusipi Kulula
Leader Title1:Federal riding
Leader Name1:Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou
Leader Title2:Prov. riding
Leader Name2:Ungava
Area Total Km2:26.60
Area Land Km2:25.82
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:453
Population As Of:2021
Population Density Km2:17.5
Population Blank1 Title:Pop (2006–11)
Population Blank1:12.4%
Population Blank2 Title:Dwellings
Population Blank2:173
Timezone:EST
Utc Offset:−5
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:−4
Postal Code Type:Postal code(s)
Postal Code:J0M 1J0
Area Code:819

Quaqtaq (Inuktitut: ᖁᐊᕐᑕᖅ) is a northern village (Inuit community) in Nunavik, northern Quebec, Canada. Its population was 453 in the Canada 2021 Census.

The village is one of the northernmost inhabited places in Quebec, located on the eastern shore of Diana Bay (Tuvaaluk in the Inuktitut language), on a peninsula which protrudes into the Hudson Strait where it meets Ungava Bay.[2]

The name Quaqtaq signifies tapeworm. According to local folklore, this name derives from a man who once came to the area to hunt beluga and found live parasites in his feces. His hunting companions began to call the place Quaqtaq.

Inaccessible by road, Quaqtaq is served by the small Quaqtaq Airport.

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that people have occupied the area around Quaqtaq for about 3500 years. Thule people, the ancestors of today's Inuit, arrived around 1400 or 1500 AD.

In 1947, a Roman Catholic mission opened in Quaqtaq. The present-day settlement was established after a trading post first established in 1927 at Iggiajaaq, a few kilometres south-west, was finally closed in 1950. After a measles epidemic killed 11 adults in 1952, the Canadian government began delivering basic services to the community. A nursing station was built in 1963. In the 1960s, the Quebec government opened a store and a post office equipped with a radio-telephone. In 1974, the store became a co-operative and, in 1978, Quaqtaq was legally established as a Northern village.

Since 1996, policing is provided by the Kativik Regional Police Force.[3]

Climate

Quaqtaq is located on the coast of Ungava Bay. Due to its location at 61 degrees north latitude and the influence of cold currents, the temperature in this area is much lower than other areas at the same latitude. The climate type of Quaqtaq is a typical tundra climate (Köppen: ETf), because the average temperature in the warmest July and August is only, while the hottest month in areas with similar latitudes is much higher than it, such as Anchorage is, and Bergen is, while inland Yakutsk can reach .

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Quaqtaq had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 25.82km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[4]

Population trend:[5]

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 144 (total dwellings: 173)

Education

The Kativik School Board operates the Isummasaqvik School.[6]

People

Notable people from the community include musicians Beatrice Deer and Jaaji Uppik.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Census Profile, 2016 Census - Quaqtaq, Village nordique [Census subdivision], Quebec and Nord-du-Québec, Census division [Census division], Quebec. 8 February 2017.
  2. Book: Dorais, Louis-Jacques . Quaqtaq: Modernity and Identity in an Inuit Community. University of Toronto Press. Toronto. 1997. 132. 0-8020-7952-0 .
  3. Web site: General Information. KRPF. Home. en-US. 2017-07-03. 2017-08-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20170827000621/http://www.krpf.ca/en/about/general-information. dead.
  4. Web site: Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec . . February 9, 2022 . August 28, 2022.
  5. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 census
  6. "Our Schools ." Kativik School Board. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.