Uluksan point is one side of the "mouth" of Arctic Bay (the other being Holy Cross Point, a finger of black rock jutting into the ocean). It was a traditional living spot, dating back to pre-contact times, a place where people gathered slate to make uluit. An Ulu is a "woman’s" knife, a very efficient knife, with a central handle on a crescent shaped blade. Prior to European contact they were made of slate, and it was at Uluksan that slate was gathered to make them (hence the name).
It is a beautiful spot, a wide grassy area, framed by the ocean and the rocks and hills behind. Beyond it in in Adam’s Sound the St George Society Cliffs stretch for almost 10 kilometres, to the mouth of the fjord. Several old qarmat dot the landscape, mostly tucked up against the hills. Quarmat Quarmaq were the sod houses, that were home to the inuit. They are circular, made with rock and/or sod piled up for walls. Originally the roof would have been made of whale bone, and covered in skin, later the roof would have been made of wood, and canvas.
These qarmat at Uluksan existed before the qallunat (non-inuit) came here, and are overgrown with the grasses that grow here. It is easy to imagine a small village here in this beautiful spot, with a line of qarmat stretchin along the hills.
Here are some pictures of Uluksan and the area.
A view back towards Arctic Bay from the walk in.
A food cache, someone is making igunaq (aged meat or muktaq).
A view of Uluksan. Holy Cross Point and Adam’s Sound are in the background. There are at least four old qarmat in the foreground.
Another view of Uluksan, looking towards the St George Society Cliffs (just hidden around the corner) and Admiralty Inlet. There are three qarmat in the foreground, another partway along the hill, and finally one more further on.
A view of a qarmat qarmaq from above.
Hilary playing with dandylions. She gives scale to the quarmat qarmaq in the foreground.
Travis and Hilary enjoying the gorgeous day.
A qarmat qarmaq in Arctic Bay. Lest you think that these are ancient shelters, people here made their homes in them right into the late sixties, early seventies. Leah’s parents, for example, had a qarmat qarmaq for their home until they moved to town in 1969.
Comments
8 responses
I just marvel at these “northern life” posts. I can’t imagine a life more different that mine. Terrific!
Hi Clare,
Thanks for sharing more northern life stories. Makes me remember my time north and wish for more.I really enjoy learing more about the traditional way of living.
In you post you talk about Uluksan being the place where uluit were made but then mention the ulu being the woman’s knife. Is uluit plural for ulu?
I hope you are enjoying your summer. John
Hello Clare,
When you talk of qarmat, you are talking about a number of qarmat’s. When you are talking about one qarmaq, you should change the “t” to “q”, just wanted to point that out.
The igunaq’s are Qaunaq’s, Issigaitok’s and they are maktaaq’s, not meat. They’ve cashed their muktaaq’s closer to town due to the fact that bears went into them when they were further from town.
Thanks Blogmom.
Hi John, Yes Uluit is plural for Ulu.
Thanks Niore. I’ll make the corrections.
I think Uluksat is pretty popular and goes way back. When I read “Qillarjuarq: The Polar Migration”, it was mentioned that Qillarjuarq and his team stayed at Uluksat for a while on his way to Devon Island. It was also mentioned that him and his team made a big ditch for protection at Uluksat. Uluksat is the only place in the world, that I know of, named Uluksat. And I thought theses qarmat were used by Qillarjuarq but then they look too “new”. My dad also has an old picture of whalers, qalunnaqs and old time Inuit and the picture was taken at Uluksat…..interesting.
Thanks Joanasie, you’re a fountain of information as always. What did Qillarjuarq need the ditch to protect himself from? If I could get a scan of the picture I could post it here.
Tres cool, Clare.
Interesting post! I’ve seen these dwellings all over the place from Baffin, Melville Penisula and even in Quebec and Labrador! They must have been well adapted to conditions faced by Inuit in times past.
Cheers!