Ulukhaktok, Canada: August 31, 2026
We've left Nunavut behind and are now in the Northwest Territories in the small hamlet of Ulukhaktok. Ulukhaktok is a small Inuvialuit Settlement hamlet on the west coast of Victoria Island, in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Victoria Island is about the size of the UK but with far fewer residents. Between 450 to 500 people live in the hamlet. Until 2006, the hamlet was called Holman.
Local volunteers escorted us on a walk through the community to the Recreation Center where several artisans had their work displayed and available for sale. Print making is popular here. One woman showed us how she makes multiple prints of the same images without a press. She makes stencils of each color area and dabs paint into the shape. When that color is finished, she moves on to another shape and color. Her process is like three-color lithography without a press and a stone.
In the Recreation Center we had an interesting chat with a young woman who is a RCMP officer. She said she grew up in Northern Alberta and her background is in counseling and community involvement. She is in Ulukhaktok to fill in for a vacancy. Her territory is the entire Northwest Territories. The crimes she deals with are mainly DV and alcohol related issues.
Back at the landing site we had an opportunity to jump into David and Bella Kuptana's van for a ride to see the most northerly 9-hole golf course in the world. David and Bella were a kick and very good guides. Ulukhaktok has an annual Billy Joss golf tournament. Joss was a former Hudson's Bay executive. Our guides said people come for the Arctic Char (which are running thick in July) and then they join the golf tournament. Bella said the clubhouse has extra balls and clubs for those who don’t want to ruin their own equipment.
Once we had our photos of Hole 5 and the club house, David drove us to the airport (3-4 planes a week) to see the "Grolar" (grizzly/polar bear mix). He said it is 3/4 polar bear and just 1/4 grizzly. He shot it on the sea ice near the airport in 2010. Now it is on display in the waiting room.
David said he retired from golf to hunt. He is an outfitter and charges Canadian hunters 40,000 CAD to take them hunting. Pelts sell for 10,000 CAD. There is a quota on Polar Bears each year for the community but they never get that many. David said the younger generation doesn’t seem to be interested in hunting or eating polar bear meat.
Back at the landing site, Mary was demonstrating how she filets Arctic Char with a ulu.
I photographed some of the volunteers. (clockwise from the left) The woman (I didn't get her name) in blue is wearing blue-dyed fox and pinned to her chest is a small beaded brooch with a photo of her son. Mary, Margaret, and Anne.
Below left to right: Failed to get his name, Jerry and Kaden
Ulukhaktok means "the place where one finds materials to make ulus—copper and slate." Keeping with the Ulu theme, address numbers are mounted on the half-moon shape of the ulu.
Ulukhaktok has the same problem as the other high arctic hamlets in that there is no way to get rid of nonworking appliances and vehicles or anything else that no longer has a purpose.
All signs were written in Latin letters.
The Canadian communities we've visited have at least two general stores: Northern and the Inuit-owned Co-op. The Co-op had fishing and hunting supplies, some hardware, a few groceries, the post office, and fabrics, furs, and leathers.
The Northern Store had mostly groceries. Packaged fruits are the same as we can buy at our home in California but more expensive. On August 31, 2026, the US dollar was worth 1.39 in Canadian dollars. The 1.89 liter Ocean Spray would be $19.99 in USD. Bananas are 4.60 a kilo in USD/per pound about $2 USD which is twice as much as we pay. Fresh food comes by plane which makes it more expensive. Large durable goods come once a year by barge. The barge was in the harbor the day we arrived.
Later in the day, quite a few Ulukhaktok residents came aboard the MS Fridtjof Nansen to entertain us with singing, drumming, dancing, and an energetic display of athletic arts.
Tomorrow we will visit the community of Sachs Harbor/Ikaahuk.
Comments