Pangnirtung

Pangnirtung
Pangniqtuuq
ᐸᖕᓂᖅᑑᖅ

"Uptown" neighbourhood of Pangnirtung. April 2006
Nickname(s): Pang
Pangnirtung
Coordinates: 66°08′52″N 065°41′58″W / 66.14778°N 65.69944°W / 66.14778; -65.69944Coordinates: 66°08′52″N 065°41′58″W / 66.14778°N 65.69944°W / 66.14778; -65.69944
Country Canada
Territory Nunavut
Region Qikiqtaaluk Region
Electoral district Pangnirtung
Government[1][2]
 • Type Hamlet Council
 • Mayor Mosesee Qappik
 • MLAs Johnny Mike
Area[3]
 • Land 7.77 km2 (3.00 sq mi)
Elevation[4] 23 m (75 ft)
Population (2011)[3]
 • Total 1,425
 • Density 183.4/km2 (475/sq mi)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Canadian Postal code X0A 0R0
Area code(s) 867
Website www.pangnirtung.ca

Pangnirtung (or Pang, also Pangniqtuuq, in syllabics: ᐸᖕᓂᖅᑑᖅ IPA: [paŋniqtuːq]) is an Inuit hamlet, Qikiqtaaluk Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, located on Baffin Island. As of the 2011 census the population was 1,425, an increase of 7.5% from the 2006 census.[3] Pangnirtung is situated on a coastal plain at the coast of Pangnirtung Fjord, a fjord which eventually merges with Cumberland Sound. The area of the town is 7.77 km2 (3.00 sq mi).[3] As of January 2014, the mayor is Mosesee Qappik.[1]

Name

There is some confusion about the village name. Residents say the real name is Panniqtuuq, which means "the place of many bull caribou".[5] Early in 2005 residents voted against officially changing the name of the village to the native one, as Pangnirtung has achieved an international reputation. Its residents have created high-quality traditional arts in sculpture, as well as adaptation of themes and design in printmaking and weaving.

Pangnirtung is nicknamed the Switzerland of the Arctic, or simply Pang.[6]

History

The Inuit and their ancestors have inhabited the area for thousands of years, perhaps as long as 4,000. Their cultures became well-adapted to the climate and environment.

Contact with European Canadians has been limited to less than the last century. In 1921, the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post in Pangnirtung. Two years later, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police erected a permanent office. The first government-appointed teacher arrived in 1956. The first administrative office was established in 1962.

Since then, numerous Inuit have achieved success with marketing their traditional arts. They transformed traditional drawing skills to produce lithographs and other forms of prints, allowing reproduction and wider distribution of their work. Other artists have made sculptures and carvings in local stone. Since the government established a weaving studio in 1970, many Inuit have learned to weave and are producing tapestries and other works that find an international market.[7]

Economic development

The community operates a turbot fishery. In 2008, the federal government budgeted for the construction of a harbour.[8]

Auyuittuq Lodge is the hamlet’s only hotel, which comprises 25 rooms, shared facilities, a dining room, and a lounge.

Power is supplied to Pangnirtung via standalone diesel generators. Fuel is imported via tanker and stored in a tank farm near the Pangnirtung airport. The purchase of diesel fuel is the responsibility of the government of Nunavut.[9]

Water, sewage, and garbage services are provided by the municipality of Pangnirtung. Water trucks fill up at a reservoir adjacent to the hamlet and is delivered seven days a week. Sewage is pumped out and treated at the municipal treatment plant. Garbage is picked up 5 days a week and transported to a landfill that slowly deteriorates due to Arctic temperatures.[10]

Pangnirtung is the nearest town (1 hour by boat) to Auyuittuq National Park and the location of one of two park offices, the other is in Qikiqtarjuaq. Located near to the Parks Canada office is the Angmarlik Visitor Centre.[11][12] Iglunga, now uninhabited, is an Inuit hamlet to the west.

Panorama of Pangnirtung Fiord in winter

Harbour proposal

In 2009 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper proposed building a new modern harbour in Pangnirtung to support the region's turbot-fishing industry.[13][14][15] Harper received a warm welcome with many residents gathered at the airport to greet him. The town's 1,500 residents listened as Harper announced that $17 million worth of harbour construction promised in the last two budgets would get under way in the fall of that year.[16]

Harper said the greatest potential for the hamlet's future lies in the inshore turbot fishery. The shortfalls of the current harbour are a big problem for fishermen. When the tide recedes, the harbour turns to mud.

Notable residents

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Nunavummiut elect new municipal leaders
  2. ↑ Results for the constituency of Pangnirtung at Elections Nunavut
  3. 1 2 3 4 Pangnirtung, Nunavut (Census subdivision)
  4. ↑ Elevation at airport. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 15 September 2016 to 0901Z 10 November 2016
  5. ↑ Qikiqtani Inuit Association - Pangnirtung Profile
  6. ↑ "Frommer's: Nunavut". John Wiley & Sons., Inc. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  7. ↑ Cross, L. D. 2003. "Woven, Not Carved: The Pangnirtung Tapestries Are Northern Art with Global Appeal", Arctic. 56: 310-314
  8. ↑ "Nunavut Ministers Lobby for Federal Fishery Support". Dollars and Sense: Northern Business and Economy. thesourdough.com. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  9. ↑ "Power". Hamlet of Pangnirtung. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Municipal Services". Hamlet of Pangnirtung. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  11. ↑ Auyuittuq National Park
  12. ↑ Angmarlik Visitor Centre
  13. ↑ "PM announces construction of new small craft harbour in Pangnirtung". Prime Minister's Office. 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  14. ↑ "Creating jobs and opportunities for northern communities: Pangnirtung Small Craft Harbour". Prime Minister's Office. 2009-08-20. Archived from the original on 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  15. ↑ "Backgrounder: Harper government invests in new small craft harbour in Pangnirtung". Prime Minister's Office. 2009-08-20. Archived from the original on 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  16. ↑ Bruce Campion-Smith (2009-08-20). "Nunavut harbour refit will benefit fish industry". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2009-09-13.

Further reading

  • Arnaktauyok, Germaine. Stories from Pangnirtung. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1976. ISBN 0-88830-109-X
  • Dale, Janis Elaine. The Relationship between the Physical Environment and Benthic Faunal Communities in Pangnirtung Fiord, Baffin Island, N.W.T. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1993. ISBN 0-315-76445-7
  • Ebisuda, Ken-ichi, Takashi Kunito, Reiji Kubota, and Shinsuke Tanabe. 2002. "Arsenic Concentrations and Speciation in the Tissues of Ringed Seals (Phoca Hispida) from Pangnirtung, Canada". Applied Organometallic Chemistry. 16, no. 8: 451.
  • Hankins, Gerald W. Sunrise Over Pangnirtung The Story of Otto Schaefer, M.D. Komatik series, no. 6. Calgary: Arctic Institute of North America of the University of Calgary, 2000. ISBN 0-919034-97-7
  • Langmark, Otto C. A., and C. O. Langmark. The Top of Baffin Island 140 Mountain Peaks (and Other Topographic Features) Around the South End of Pangnirtung Fjord, Baffin Island, N.W.T. [Thornhill, Ont.?]: Otto Langmark & Associates, 1990. ISBN 0-921779-92-5
  • Neuman, Cheryl Lynn McKenna. Aeolian Processes and Landforms in South Pangnirtung Pass, Southeast Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1988. ISBN 0-315-40447-7
  • O'Hara, Charles. Tourism and the Social Construction of Place A Case-Study of Tourists' Spatial Practices in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. ISBN 0-612-57678-7
  • Tarnocai, C., and Hugo Veldhuis. Soils and Trafficability of Pangnirtung Pass, Auyuittuq National Park Reserve. Ottawa: Research Branch (ECORC, BRC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 1998.
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