The name Gjoa Haven is from the Norwegian Gjøahavn or "Gjøa's Harbour"; it was named by early 20th-century polar explorer Roald Amundsen after his ship Gjøa. This was derived from the old Norse name Gyða, a compressed compound form of Guðfríðr.
History
In 1903, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had entered the area on his ship Gjøa in an expedition intending to travel through the Northwest Passage. By October the straits through which he was travelling began to ice up. Amundsen put Gjøa into a natural harbour on the southeast coast of King William Island. He stayed there, in what Amundsen called "the finest little harbor in the world", for nearly two years. He and his crew spent much of that time with the local Netsilik Inuit, learning from them the skills to live off the land and travel efficiently in the Arctic environment. This knowledge proved to be vital for Amundsen's later successful exploration to the South Pole. He explored the Boothia Peninsula, searching for the exact location of the North Magnetic Pole. Some Inuit people in Gjoa Haven with European ancestry have claimed to be descendants of Amundsen. Accounts by members of the expedition told of their relations with Inuit women, and historians have speculated that Amundsen might also have taken a partner, although he wrote a warning against this. Specifically, half brothers Bob Konona and Paul Ikuallaq say that their father Luke Ikuallaq told them on his deathbed that he was the son of Amundsen. Konona said that their father Ikuallaq was left out on the ice to die after his birth, as his European ancestry made him illegitimate to the Inuit, threatening their community. His Inuit grandparents saved him. In 2012, Y-DNA analysis, with the families' permission, showed that Ikuallaq was not a match to the direct male line of Amundsen. Not all descendants claiming European ancestry have been tested for a match to Amundsen, nor has there been a comparison of Ikuallaq's DNA to that of other European members of Amundsen's crew. Permanent European-style settlement at Gjoa Haven started in 1927 with a Hudson's Bay Company trading outpost. In 1941 Henry Larsen reached the post from the west. The settlement has attracted the traditionally nomadic Inuit people as they have adapted a more settled lifestyle. In 1961, the town's population was 110. By 2001, the population was 960 according to the Census, as the Inuit have moved from their traditional camps to be close to the healthcare and educational facilities available at Gjoa Haven. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,324, an increase of 3.5% from the 2011 census. The Population Centre of Gjoa Haven showed 1,197 people living in, a decrease of 1.4% from 2011. Gjoa Haven has expanded to such an extent that a newer subdivision has been developed near the airport at. The community is served by the Gjoa Haven Airport and by annual supply sealift. The area is home to CAM-B, a North Warning System site.
Attractions
Nattilik Heritage Centre - a museum and heritage centre, opened on 17 October 2013, with a collection of handmade harpoons, snow goggles and snow knives purchased by Amundsen and repatriated to Canada and to the community from where they first came, after years on display at the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo. There is local art available for purchasing.
The discovery of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus shipwrecks from the Franklin's lost expedition is expected to bring increased tourism to Gjoa Haven, the nearest community to the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site. Public access to the site is not allowed. To protect the site, Inuit people from Gjoa Haven are employed as guardians, camping near the wreck sites to monitor access to the sites. The Nattilik Heritage Centre will be expanded to create a visitor centre for the historic site.
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 bySSI Micro. In 2017, the network was upgraded to 4G LTE technology, and 2G-GSM for mobile voice.
Culture
is very popular in Gjoa Haven with many teams competing in annual showdowns. Inuit people learned square dancing from the Scottish and American whalers active in the area in the mid 1800s. It is generally accompanied by accordion and fiddles and has its roots in round dances from Great Britain rather than Western American square dance. A single dance can take from 40 minutes to over an hour.
