|
| Kuujjuaraapik, Nunavik-Quebe on a partly foggy day |
|
| Photo by Inuit Artist: Alec Lawson Tuckatuck |
The nearest hospital to Kuujjuaraapik was Fort
George, Quebec where I was born. The community of Fort George no longer exists itself but is now called Chisasibi, a
Cree village with some Inuit located on the James Bay. When the dam projects were in effect, the water level rose and
the community had to evacuate and relocate to Chisasibi.
| At the Kuujjuaraapik rapids, doing some fishing |
|
| Photo by Inuit Artist: Alec Lawson Tuckatuck |
Kuujjuaraapk is an Inuit and a Cree community of
about 1400 people located on the Hudson Bay. It is the first accessible Inuit community in the North and can only be reached
by plane. It is distinct in that it has four names in four languages. Whapmagoostui, which means ‘where there are whales’,
is the Cree name, Great Whale River in English, Poste de la Baleine in French and of course Kuujjuaraapik which means little-big
river in Inuktitut. Kuujjuaraapik is also rare in the fact that there
are two different cultures living and cohabitating in the same community with completely separate and different governments
operating within. When our people were nomadic, moving from place to place following the caribou and travelling with the season,
Kuujjuaraapik was an excellent spot to situate as it was plentiful with beluga whales. There ‘the people’ could
fill and build their reserves up on muqtuq (whale blubber) and prepare for the cold winters.
| Looking for beluga around Long Island |
|
| Photo by Alec K. Tuckatuck |
In the 1940’s the American Army set up
a military base there as post for radar surveilance and watch. The army is no longer there, only remnants of buildings, equipment,
oil barrels etc. Kuujjuaraapik is one of the larger communities
in Nunavik and is one of the more beautiful ones as it has white sandy beaches, large sand dunes, large islands, incredible
atsanik (northern lights), and many great Inuit artists. |
