Whale Cove , is a hamlet located south southwest of Rankin Inlet, northeast of Arviat, in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada, on the western shore of Hudson Bay. The community is named for the many beluga whales which congregate off the coast. Many of the inhabitants hunt these whales every fall and use their by-products for their oil and food. Whale Cove, initially settled by three distinct Inuit groups, is a relatively traditional community: 99% Inuit, who still wear fur, hunt, fish, eat raw meat and fish. Several bowhead whales may appear in the area as well. Whale Cove is on the polar bear migration route. Local Inuit, regularly travel by snowmobile in the winter or by boat in summer months between the hamlet of Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove a distance of. The terrain is Arctic tundra, this consists mostly of rocks, mosses and lichens. As of the 2016 census, the population was 435, an increase of 6.9% from the 2011 census.
History
Inuit in the Whale Cove area traded whale oil, baleen, furs, leather and walrus tusks with the Hudson's Bay Company since the mid-18th century when the HBC established their trading post at Churchill, Manitoba.
Relocations 1950s
In the 1950s and 1960s Inuit were relocated in a series of moves from one hamlet to another, some of them arriving in Whale Cove, a hamlet created by the federal government for these Inuit groups. Some came from Ennadai Lake via Arviat to Whale Cove, other came from Back River via Garry Lake then Baker Lake to Whale Cove. By the 1970s Inuit living in Whale Cove represented boast coastal Inuit from Rankin Inlet and Arviat and different Caribou Inuit, from the Barren Grounds west of Hudson Bay, including the Ihalmiut, or Ahiarmiut on the banks of the Kazan River, Ennadai Lake, Little Dubawnt Lake, and north of Thlewiaza, had been relocated in the 1950s Whale Cove and Henik Lake. by the Department of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources. Their hunting experience was based almost entirely on "inland caribou herds that had thinned by the 1950s and left many families hungry. Coastal dwelling Inuit from Rankin Inlet and Arviat were relocated to Whale Cove from nearby coastal communities in order to aid the inlanders in adapting to a marine subsistence economy."
Ennadai Lake relocations 1950–1960s
In the late 1960s a famine swept the land. Inuit were forced to walk towards places like Arviat to escape the desperation. Survivors who couldn't walk were airlifted to Whale Cove, Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet.
Self-government
In 1971 in Toronto, at the first meeting of what would become the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Celestino Makpah, a traditional tool maker, who makes harpoons, ice chisels etc. but specializes in uluit, the representative from Whale Cove described a number of ways in which the affairs of the Inuit of the Keewatin were managed by the government and non-Inuit. Celestino recounted how, "a non-Native southerner started a private fishing enterprise on two lakes near Whale Cove without consulting the local people. At the time, the federal government decided what projects would or would not happen in the Northwest Territories." "In our area, in Keewatin, there is no one managing the affairs of the Inuit other than the government. It is all government. I will give you an example: Near the surroundings of Whale Cove we have a large lake with plenty of fish. The white people control that lake just like they own it. There is a man, who is a tourist, who is probably one of the richest men there and he controls that lake. I don't mind at all if anyone is a tourist comes into our communities and fishes. The only thing I don't like about it is the government is the channel through which these private enterpriser go of course, because it is their land! So far there have been two large lakes which have been taken by private enterpriser with the help of the government, and this is one of the examples I really dislike. Since they are the government, even though they are aware of the rights of the native people they will not come and tell you "Do you know what your rights are? Do you know what you should do?" I think we, the Inuits, are just waiting for something to come up. " "These should have been under our control," Makpah said, " should never have been given to the American enterpriser." In 1973, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada initiated the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project and anthropologist David Hoffman conducted fieldwork in Whale Cove as part of a team of experts contributing to this project. The project under Milton Freeman, "documented the total Inuit land use area of the Northwest Territories, then stretching from the Mackenzie River to east Baffin Island," to provide, in Freeman's words, "information in support of the fact that Inuit have used and occupied this vast northern land since time immemorial and that they still use and occupy it to this day." Hoffmann admired the "precision with which Inuit – who did not ordinarily use maps and who often could not read English – were able to recall specific areas of use and the "incredible encyclopedic knowledge of the land," formed by generations of dependence on its living bounty."
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.
Climate
Whale Cove features a cold tundra climate ; unlike most of southern Nunavut ; with cold winters averaging around, and cool, very wet and rainy summers averaging around ; but temperatures of or above are possible. Winters run from October/November until April/May with temperatures averaging between. Summers run from June to September, and average temperatures range from. Summers are usually cool, wet, and rainy, but can be warm; with a record high of. Summers typically last four months.
Notable people from Whale Cove
John Adjuk moved with his family to Whale Cove in March 1964 from the Baker Lake area. Originally from the Back River area north of Baker Lake, living the traditional way of life on the land, he moved to the Garry Lake area. Following famine in the Garry Lake area, he was evacuated to Baker in 1955. In 1955 they returned to Garry Lake but in early 1958 the family of five was evacuated to the community of Baker Lake when famine struck the land. The Hanningajurmiut, or Hanningaruqmiut, or Hanningajulinmiut lived at Garry Lake, south of the Utkuhiksalingmiut. Many Hanningajurmiut starved in 1958 when the caribou bypassed their traditional hunting grounds, but the 31 who survived were relocated to Baker. Most never returned permanently to Garry Lake. In March, 1964, the Adjuk family, which now included six daughters, moved to Whale Cove because it was thought the hunting and fishing was better.
