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| SIRMILIK NATIONAL
PARK NUNAVUT © Photos
& Text Parks Canada |
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| As part
of Canada's national
parks system, Sirmilik National Park
represents the Northern Eastern Arctic Lowlands Natural Region
and portions of the Lancaster Sound Marine
Region. The park will comprise
three separate land areas. Bylot Island is a
spectacular area of rugged
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and glaciers, coastal lowlands and seabird
colonies. Oliver Sound is
a long, narrow fiord with excellent opportunities
for
boating, hiking and camping.
Borden Peninsula is an extensive plateau dissected by
broad river valleys. The park features a
major seabird colony in the vicinity
of Baillarge
Bay.
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© Photos &
Text Parks Canada |
Natural Heritage Sirmilik
National Park
Sirmilik National Park of
Canada is part of Canada’s
internationally recognized system of national parks, national historic
sites, and national marine conservation areas. National parks
tell the story of Canada’s natural beginnings. Sirmilik National Park
was established in 2001. Located on the northern tip of
Baffin Island near Lancaster Sound, Sirmilik protects 22,252 km2 representing
the Eastern Arctic Lowlands and Northern Davis natural regions. The
park is divided into four separate parcels: Bylot Island,
Borden Peninsula, Baillarge Bay, and Oliver Sound.
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Sirmilik is
the summer home to the most diverse avian community
in the high arctic. The park features more than 70 species of
birds, including 45 species of breeding birds.
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Lancaster Sound - Tallurutiup
imanga Sirmilik National Park
This very large
body of water located between Devon Island and Sirmilik is one
of the most productive marine areas in the entire Canadian
arctic. It is home to abundant populations of seabirds, as
well as walrus, polar bear, and several species of seal and
whale. It is also the eastern entrance to the Northwest
Passage and an important route for marine transportation.
Eclipse Sound – Tasiuja
is the main
marine transportation route to Bylot Island, Navy Board
Inlet and Borden Peninsula. It is often covered
by pack ice until mid-summer, and travel can be dangerous
due to strong winds, currents, and high waves. There is
abundant marine life in the sound, including narwhals and
polar bears. Spectacular icebergs add to the local scenery. Some
become grounded in shallow waters. |
© Photos &
Text Parks Canada |
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© Photos &
Text Parks Canada |
Geology
Sirmilik
is an Inuktitut word meaning “the place of the glaciers”.
Much of the park is covered by high mountain peaks
and glaciers, although there are extensive plains
of low-lying tundra as well. The Byam Martin mountains
on Bylot Island are part of the larger Arctic
Cordillera which extends from the eastern flank of Baffin
Island all the way up to Ellesmere Island. Many interesting geological
features are found within the park. The area has been scoured
by both continental ice (the Laurentide Ice Sheet of the Wisconsin glaciation,
which began its retreat from the area around
6000 - 8000 years ago), and localized alpine or
cirque glaciers.
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Natural Wonders and Cultural
Treasures
Sirmilik National Park and its
surrounding region has a rich legacy of cultural resources
that tell the story of human occupation of the area a
story that dates back thousands of years.
Pre-Contact History
It is believed that the earliest people on Baffin Island were
from the Pre-Dorset and Dorset cultures dating back more than three thousand years from
about 1700 B.C. to A.D.1000. The ancestors of these people
are believed to have originated in the Bering Strait
region of Alaska prior to migrating across the Canadian arctic
and into Greenland, from west to east. |
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© Photos
J. Ross, 1819
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A second wave of migration from Alaska resulted in
the arrival of Thule people into the eastern arctic around the end
of the 11th century, about a thousand years ago. It is not known
to what extent the Thule
Effects of
Glaciation
Auyuittuq's unique and spectacular
landscape can be attributed to the more recent erosive
influences of ice and glaciation. The area has been scoured by
both continental ice (the Laurentide Ice Sheet of the
Wisconsin glaciation, which began its retreat from the area
around 8000 years ago), and localized alpine or cirque
glaciers. It is thought that the northwest portion of the
Penny Ice Cap might be a remnant of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.
Along the coast, glaciers have incised the valley floors below
sea level, creating deep, narrow fiords with vertical walls up
to 900 m in height. | |
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Eskimos displaced or intermixed with the
Dorset Eskimos. Over time the Dorset culture disappeared, and
by A.D. 1200 the Thule culture was predominant. Modern Inuit
are direct descendents of the Thule people. Within the park
region, the earliest remains of human occupation are generally
those of the Thule culture, although some evidence of the
Dorset culture also exists. The Thule way of life was highly
adapted to a coastal marine and tundra environment. With dogs,
sleds, umiaqs (large skin boats), and kayaks, the Thule people
were highly mobile hunters of land and sea animals. Seasonal
activities were dictated by the abundance and distribution of
the hunted species. Seals, especially ringed seals, were their
main source of food and were hunted year-round. Caribou were
also hunted year-round, and the skins used to make clothing
for the winter. Fish were important in the summer months, and
in the spring ice fishing and waterfowl hunting added variety
to their diet. Bowhead whales and narwhals were also prized
and hunted, and there is some evidence that walruses were
hunted as well. Thule people usually used the same winter
settlements year after year. Early Thule winter houses were
built with sod, stone, and whalebone. The roofs were built
with whale ribs and covered with skins and sod. The inside of
the dwelling would be slightly below ground level, with a
tunnel from the outside leading in. The rear of the dwelling
would contain a sleeping platform with small storage
compartments underneath. Side platforms would hold the
seal-oil lamps and would serve as tables for cooking and
drying clothes. Over the centuries there were some variations
in the Thule lifestyle in response to environmental
conditions. For example, a cold climatic episode dubbed the
“little ice age” occurred over a period of about 400 years,
affecting the hunting patterns of the Thule people and forcing
them to become more nomadic and to disperse. Despite the
environmental changes, the Thule culture persisted until the
period of earliest contact with Europeans, a period that also
coincided with the end of the “little ice age”. The transition
from Thule to Inuit culture occurred between 1600 and 1850.
Most of the known archeological sites in the Sirmilik region
are concentrated around Button Point at the southeast tip of
Bylot Island. This site is close to a polynya, where there is
open water year-round, and good opportunities for hunting
marine mammals.
The Twentieth Century
In 1906, J.E.Bernier sailed into Eclipse Sound
and took possession of Bylot Island on behalf of Canada. While
the diversity and richness of the bird population had been
recognized for some time, it wasn’t until the late 1950’s that
formal studies began. In 1965, Bylot Island was designated by
the federal government as a Migratory Bird Sanctuary. More
avian studies were conducted on the island in the 1970’s. In
1988, a seasonal research camp was established on Bylot Island
by the Canadian Wildlife Service and the University of Laval
in Quebec. Their original intent was to study the ecology of
the Greater Snow Goose population, but over time the scope of
the work expanded to include the monitoring of other species
such as arctic foxes, lemmings, snowy owls, and Lapland
longspurs. Field studies and monitoring continue on an annual
basis
The mid-Twentieth
Century
The first recorded visit by Europeans to
Baffin Island was made by captains Robert Bylot and William
Baffin when they entered Jones Sound and Lancaster Sound in
1616. In 1818, explorers Sir John Ross and Sir William Edward
Perry also passed through the area while searching for the
Northwest Passage. Starting around the 1820’s, British whaling
fleets began to penetrate the area in search of bowhead
whales. As trading began with whalers and explorers, items
such as rifles, tobacco, and tea were introduced, and the
Inuit culture began to change. Seasonal hunting continued, but
patterns changed to accommodate the whaling season as many
Inuit were employed by the whalers. The whaling industry
remained active in the region for the next half century, and
Bylot Island became one of the most active northern whaling
grounds.
Pond Inlet
In 1912, explorers arrived in the Pond Inlet region looking
for gold. They weren’t successful in finding gold, but they
did open some small trading posts, making Pond Inlet a gathering
point for trade. The Hudson’s Bay Company arrived in 1921. By
1929, Anglican and Catholic church missions had been established, as well
as the RCMP. Most Inuit continued to live off the land
until the 1960’s, when their children were first
required by the federal government to attend school. A
school and student residences were constructed in Pond Inlet, and most of
the families eventually moved into the settlement to be
closer to their children. Today, Pond Inlet
has a population of around 1350 and is the first community
in Nunavut to have its school fully staffed by Inuit
educators. The Sirmilik National Park office is housed
in one of the original school residence
buildings. |
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