Sachs Harbour is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Situated on the southwestern coast of Banks Island in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the population according to the 2016 census count was 103 people. The two principal languages in the town are Inuinnaqtun and English. The traditional name for the area is Ikahuak, meaning "where you go across to". Bulk supplies of food and other items are brought by barge in the summer months and flights from Inuvik, some to the southwest, operate all year, via the Sachs Harbour Airport. Sachs Harbour is the only permanent settlement on Banks Island. The town was named after the ship Mary Sachs, which was part of the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913.
Community life
The community's economy is based largely on hunting and trapping, but tourism also plays a small role. Most of the town lies within of the shoreline. Residents engage in ice fishing, harvesting fish from the Amundsen Gulf and the Beaufort Sea. There is a goose hunt every spring - Banks Island being the home to the largest goose colony in North America. The community is also home to the largest commercial muskox harvests in Canada. Three quarters of the world's population of muskoxen roam the island. Barren-ground caribou and polar bear are also seen on the island. On April 26, 2006, the world's first documented wild-born grizzly–polar bear hybrid was shot near the town.
Sachs Harbour is the headquarters of Aulavik National Park and the Visitor Reception Centre is situated in Sachs Harbour. Aulavik National Park is located on the north end of Banks Island, and is co-operatively managed by Parks Canada with the residents of Sachs Harbour and the broader Inuvialuit community. The Visitor Reception Centre presents the park and Inuvialuit culture to visitors to Banks Island, as well as serves as a centre for community activities. On the north shore of Banks Island within Aulavik National Park is a narrow bay, Mercy Bay, penetrating some distance into the park. It is of historical significance for one of a number of ships sent out to the Arctic by the Admiralty to find the lost expedition of John Franklin, became trapped in the ice in the bay for some three years and had to be abandoned by its crew. That ship was the Investigator and its captain, Commander Robert McClure. The Investigator sailed from England all around North and South America so that it passed through the Bering Strait in an attempt to find the Northwest Passage from the west while looking for Franklin's lost expedition.
Exploration
and gas exploration has provided jobs over the years for some Sachs Harbour residents—estimates of commercially recoverable oil in the Beaufort Sea range from, and there is believed to be between of natural gas.
Sachs Harbour is in the Arctictundraclimatic zone, characterized by long, cold winters. Since the activities of many residents of the community revolve around fishing, hunting, and travel, many residents have considerable knowledge of weather conditions, permafrost, and even erosion patterns. Because of climate changes in recent years, local residents fear their knowledge of weather patterns may not be of much use, as the weather has become harder to predict. Since the climate has been changing, sea ice has been breaking up earlier than normal, taking seals farther south in the summer. Seals are one of the main sources of food for the town. Sockeye and pink salmon appeared for the first time in nearby waters between 1999 and 2001. New species of birds are migrating to the island, including robins and barn swallows, and more flies and mosquitos have been appearing.
