• Source: Baker Lake, Nunavut

Baker Lake (Inuktitut syllabics: ᖃᒪᓂᑦᑐᐊᖅ 'big lake joined by a river at both ends', Inuktitut: Qamani'tuaq 'where the river widens') is a hamlet in the Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut on mainland Canada. Located 320 km (200 mi) inland from Hudson Bay, it is near the nation's geographical centre, and is notable for being Nunavut's sole inland community. The hamlet is located at the mouth of the Thelon River on the shore of Baker Lake. The community was given its English name in 1761 from Captain William Christopher who named it after Sir William Baker, the 11th Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.




History


In 1916, the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post at Baker Lake, followed by Anglican missionaries in 1927. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been in the area for fifteen years before establishing a post at Baker Lake in 1930. In 1946 the population was 32, of which 25 were Inuit. A small hospital was built in 1957, followed by a regional school the next year.
In 1979 the Baker Lake Hunters and Trappers Association and the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITK) took the Canadian federal government to court for giving exploration licences to mining companies in areas where the Inuit hunt caribou. Judge Mahoney of the Federal Court of Canada, in Hamlet of Baker Lake v. Minister of Indian Affairs, recognized the existence of Aboriginal Title in Nunavut.: 653 The plaintiffs were concerned that "government-licensed exploration companies were interfering with their aboriginal rights, specifically, their right to hunt caribou.": 653 
Videos of elders sharing oral histories have been collected by Inuit students as part of the Nunavut Teacher Education Program.




Demographics



In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Baker Lake had a population of 2,061 living in 577 of its 661 total private dwellings, a change of -0.4% from its 2016 population of 2,069. With a land area of 179.54 km2 (69.32 sq mi), it had a population density of 11.5/km2 (29.7/sq mi) in 2021.
Baker Lake is home to eleven Inuit groups:

Ahiarmiut/Ihalmiut, originally from the north of Back River area, and from Ennadai Lake
Akilinirmiut, originally from the Akiliniq Hills, Thelon River area of Beverly Lake, Dubawnt Lake, Aberdeen Lake
Hanningajurmiut, originally from Garry Lake
Harvaqtuurmiut, originally from the Kazan River area
Hauniqturmiut, originally from Whale Cove's south, between Sandy Point and Arviat
Iluilirmiut / Illuilirmiut, originally from Adelaide Peninsula (Iluilik), Chantrey Inlet area
Kihlirnirmiut, originally from the Garry Lake area between Bathurst Inlet, Cambridge Bay
Natsilingmiut, originally from Baker Lake area between Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak, Kugaaruk, Repulse Bay
Padlermiut, originally from the Baker Lake to Arviat area
Qaernermiut, originally from the lower Thelon River, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, Corbett Inlet areas, between Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove
Utkuhiksalingmiut, originally from the Back River and Gjoa Haven/Wager Bay area




Economy


Many of the town's residents work in the Meadowbank gold mine for Agnico Eagle Mines Limited. Much of the local infrastructure and logistics-related employment is based around aiding mineral exploration and mining efforts in the wider area. The main source of employment and growth in this sector is Canadian-based mining company Agnico Eagle Mines, which in 2010 began work at its Meadowbank mine site 110 km (68 mi) north of Baker Lake by road. The construction of the mine employed over 1,000 workers, over 30% of whom were locals from the general area of the Kivalliq Region. Along with employing local people, the company helped build cellphone towers to get the community connected to Northwestel's cellphone service. The coming of workers from all across Canada also helped developing tourism in this community. There is also potential for a uranium mine, called the Kiggavik Project, approximately 80 km to the west, which is being proposed by Orano Canada.




Geography






= Climate

=

Baker Lake features a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfc), bordering closely on a tundra climate, with short, cool summers and long, extremely cold winters. Winters run from October/November until April/May with temperatures averaging between −21 and −25 °C (−6 and −13 °F). In contrast to Fairbanks, Alaska on a similar parallel, May is a subfreezing month and June is chilly considering the long hours of daylight.
Summers are usually cool, short and rainy; but can be hot and sometimes humid; with a record high of 33.6 °C (92.5 °F). Under the Nordenskjöld formula for distinguishing polar from non-polar climates, however, Baker Lake's climate is polar (Köppen ET) because with a coldest-month mean of −31.3 °C (−24.3 °F), the warmest-month mean would need be above 12.1 °C (53.8 °F) to keep Baker Lake out of the polar category, while Baker Lake's warmest-month mean is only 11.6 °C (52.9 °F) — the lack of trees at Baker Lake vindicates this judgement.




= Wildlife

=
Baker Lake is host to a variety of wildlife including caribou, muskox, Arctic hares, wolves, wolverines, sik-siks, geese, and lake trout among others.




Arts and culture


Baker Lake is known for its Inuit art, such as wall hangings, basalt stone sculptures and stone cut prints. The community has been home to internationally exhibited artists such as Matthew Agigaaq, Elizabeth Angrnaqquaq, Luke Anguhadluq, Barnabus Arnasungaaq, David Ikutaq, Toona Iquliq, Janet Nungnik, Jessie Oonark, Ruth Qaulluaryuk, Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq, Simon Tookoome, Marion Tuu'luq, and Marie Kuunnuaq.
The Jessie Oonark Arts and Crafts Centre, which opened in 1992, is a work area for the community's artists. It provides space for carving, print making, sewing and jewellery making. It is also home to Jessie Oonark Crafts Ltd. a subsidiary of the Nunavut Development Corporation, a Government of Nunavut crown corporation.




Infrastructure






= Transportation

=
The settlement is served by Baker Lake Airport, linking it to the nearby coastal town of Rankin Inlet, about 35 minutes away by air. Calm Air serves the town with at least two flights daily. Every day there are connecting flights to Winnipeg.
While the local road network does not connect to another community, there is an approximately 110 km (68 mi) all-weather gravel highway named Mine Road. It runs north, from the town to the Meadowbank Gold Mine and aerodrome. It was proposed and completed around 2019 and is among the longest highways in Nunavut. An 8 km (5.0 mi) road runs east from the townsite to the Geographic Centre of Canada monument.




Broadband communications


The community has been served by the Qiniq network since 2005. Qiniq is a fixed wireless service to homes and businesses, connecting to the outside world via a satellite backbone. The Qiniq network is designed and operated by SSi Canada. In 2017, the network was upgraded to 4G LTE technology, and 2G-GSM for mobile voice.




Services


Baker Lake has a women's shelter, health centre (Baker Lake Health Centre), dental clinic, heritage centre, visitor's centre, counselling centre, elders' centre, three hotels (Baker Lake Lodge, Iglu Hotel and Nunamiut Lodge), swimming pool, library, primary and secondary school (Rachel Arngnammaktiq Elementary School and Jonah Amitnaaq Secondary School), and youth centre.
There are three churches in the community, Anglican (St. Aidan's), Catholic (St. Paul's) and Glad Tidings.




See also






Notes






References






Further reading






External links



Baker Lake Official Website
• Source: Baker Lake (Nunavut)

Baker Lake (Inuktitut: Qamani'tuaq; 'where the river widens') is a lake in the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is fed by the Thelon River from the west and the Kazan River from the south. It outflows into Chesterfield Inlet. The lake is approximately 1,887 km2 (729 sq mi) in size. It has several named bays, and a few islands.
In 1762 William Christopher reached Baker Lake via Chesterfield Inlet. The Inuit hamlet of Baker Lake is at the west end of the lake near the mouth of the Thelon River. Although the Inuit had been in the area for some time, the first outside presence was the Royal North-West Mounted Police post at the east end of the lake in 1915. This was followed in 1916 by the Hudson's Bay Company post set up at the Kazan River delta until 1930 when it moved to its present location.




Fauna


The lake's area is home to Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou herds, as well as other wildlife associated with northern Canada's Arctic.




See also


List of lakes of Nunavut
List of lakes of Canada




References






External links



Hamlet of Baker Lake
Atlas of Canada, Lakes of Nunavut Archived 2007-04-10 at the Wayback Machine

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Bandar Udara Baker Lake
• Lapangan Terbang Danau Baker
• Daftar bandar udara di Nunavut
• Daftar zona waktu
• Bandar Udara Arviat
• Daftar letusan gunung berapi terbesar
• Daftar heliport di Kanada
• Baker Lake, Nunavut
• Baker Lake (Nunavut)
• Baker Lake Airport
• Baker Lake
• List of communities in Nunavut
• Yathkyed Lake
• Baker (disambiguation)
• Simon Tookoome
• Nunavut Arctic College
• Thelon River