Chesterfield Inlet (Igluligaarjuk)

One Of The Oldest Settled Places On The Hudson Bay Coast, A Former Mission And Hudson'S Bay Company Post With The Itivia Heritage Buildings, The Old Catholic Mission And Hospital Remembered By Inuit And A Small Heritage Centre. A Very Small Hamlet Reached Only By Air, With Summer Boat Trips And Polar Bear Caution · Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut

Chesterfield Inlet, Igluligaarjuk in Inuktitut, is a very small Inuit hamlet of about 400 people at the mouth of the inlet on the north-west coast of Hudson Bay. It is one of the oldest settled places on this coast, a former whaling and trading area that grew around a Hudson's Bay Company post and a Catholic mission, hospital and school. Some of those buildings are part of a hard chapter in Inuit history, and visitors should approach them with respect and ask locally what may be seen. The hamlet is reached only by scheduled flight, normally from Rankin Inlet, and it is not a sightseeing town. There is no tour desk and no fixed programme. A small heritage centre, the old mission buildings, summer boat trips and sea-ice trips arranged through local outfitters and the Hunters and Trappers Organization are the main things to ask about (confirm what is open). Weather and ice decide how long any visit lasts.

Chesterfield Inlet, a hamlet of about 400 people at the mouth of the inlet on the north-west coast of Hudson Bay, reached by scheduled flight from Rankin Inlet; coordinates approximate, Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut, Canada

Chesterfield Inlet keeps no visiting hours because it is a living community. The store, any lodge or guest house and any heritage centre keep their own hours, often a weekday pattern of roughly 9 to 5 with shorter days at weekends - confirm by phone. Boat trips run roughly July to September in open water, and sea-ice trips run roughly April to June. Winter is dark, cold and quiet with very few services for visitors. Walking the shore and looking at the outside of old buildings costs nothing at any hour. Sundays and public holidays are quiet, so buy food and fuel the day before.

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