Cambridge Bay

Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, incorporated as a hamlet in 1984, population 1608 (2011c), 1477 (2006c). The Hamlet of Cambridge Bay is located on the southeast coast of VICTORIA ISLAND. The people of the area are known as the COPPER INUIT because they fashioned implements from native copper and bartered these to other groups. Few Inuit lived year-round at the site before the 1950s, but it was used as a fishing and meeting place. Permanent settlement began when the Hudson's Bay Company set up a trading post in 1921.

Named for the duke of Cambridge (1774-1850), the settlement began to expand with the construction of a Loran navigational beacon in 1947 and a DEW Line site in 1955. The economy is still centered on the traditional Inuit activities of fishing, hunting and trapping. The DEW Line site has been converted to a North Warning station (see EARLY-WARNING RADAR) and the Loran tower still guides aircraft. The community became a Northwest Territories government administrative centre in 1981. Now part of the territory of NUNAVUT, government remains the main employer.

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Links to Other Sites
Iqaluktuuq Archaeology Project
The website for the Kitikmeot Heritage Society, an organization that preserves, promotes and celebrates the history, culture, language, and diversity of the people of the Kitikmeot region. See the illustrated feature on the Iqaluktuuq Archaeology Project.

Nunavut Tourism
Plan your next Arctic adventure at this Nunavut Tourism website. Offers information about local communities, history and culture, recreational opportunities, and much more.

Earth from Space: Arctic Archipelago
This Envisat image features the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, which lies to the north of mainland Canada and consists of 94 major islands and more than 36 000 minor ones.

Arctic Mission
The website for Arctic Mission, a scientific voyage through the Arctic’s fabled North-West Passage. Features interactive maps, videos, photos and written observations about the landscape, climate, and wildlife that inhabit this region. From the National Film Board.