ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃᑑᖅ Umingmaktok

History

In 1920, Christian Klengenberg over-wintered in Bathurst Inlet to trap fox for the fur trade. At that time, Copper Inuit who still lived a traditional lifestyle settled at Umingmaktok seasonally in the winter. In 1964, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) relocated its post from Bathurst Inlet to Umingmaktok (but was still called the Bathurst Inlet post). It closed in 1970. In 1986, Umingmaktok was still permanently inhabited and had a general store, one-room school house (with kindergarten to grade 3 - higher grades were taught by correspondence), and about 12 single-room homes built in the 1960s. Supplies would be brought in from Cambridge Bay by barge or by snowmobile in the winter. Medical services were provided 3 times per year, while police would come from the Cambridge Bay Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment only as needed.