Coats Island ( Inuktitut: ᐊᑉᐸᑑᕐᔪᐊᖅ, Appatuurjuaq) lies at the northern end of Hudson Bay in the

Kivalliq Region The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ) is an Region, administrative List of regions of Nunavut, region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island ...

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

. At in size, it is the 107th largest island in the world, and Canada's 24th largest island. The island has areas of federal crown land and areas of private land owned by

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

, however, the last permanent residents left in the 1970s. With no permanent settlements, the island is also the largest uninhabited island in the northern hemisphere fully south of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. It was the last home of the Sadlermiut people who are widely believed to represent the Dorset culture.

Geography

Coats Island is long. It reaches a maximum elevation of above sea level. This high point occurs along the rocky northern perimeter between Cape Pembroke and Cape Prefontaine. The underlying rocks in this area are Precambrian metamorphics. Less than 5 per cent of the island is more than above sea level. The southern half of the island is primarily low-lying muskeg and made up of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, such as limestone and sandstone.

Fauna

Since 1920, Coats Island has been designated a caribou reserve. After caribou were extirpated from nearby Southampton Island, the Coats herd was used to re-establish the Southampton herd. It is also known for its population of thick-billed murre. Two colonies of 30,000 birds occur along the cliffs at the rocky northern end. There are also significant concentrations of walrus at walrus haulouts at the base of cliffs or on offshore islands at the northern end of the island (one each at Cape Pembroke and Cape Prefontaine). These are visited regularly by Inuit from the hamlet at Coral Harbour, on Southampton Island, for harvesting. Cape Pembroke is an Important Bird Area.

History

The first recorded sighting of Coats Island by Europeans was in 1612 by Thomas Button; he explored it further the following year. It received its name from William Coats, a sea captain for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. He visited the area periodically between 1727 and 1751. In 1824, HMS ''Griper'', under Captain George Francis Lyon, anchored off Cape Pembroke on Coats Island. The whalers then discovered a band of " Eskimos" who were said to have spoken a "strange dialect" and were called '' Sadlermiut''. Since then, the Sadlermiut continued to establish contact with Westerners. However, as with many North American

Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

, the Sadlermiut were often susceptible to Western diseases. The area was confirmed to be an island by American whalers, who began visiting the area in the 1860s. By 1896, there were only 70 of Sadlermiut remaining. Then, in the fall of 1902, the British trading and whaling vessel named the ''Active'' had made a stop at Cape Low, Southampton Island. It is said that some of the Sadlermiut caught a disease, possibly influenza,

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

or typhus, from a sick sailor aboard the ''Active'', which then spread to the entire community. By winter 1902–03, the entire Sadlermiut population had died as a result. A

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

operated by the

was maintained on the island from August 1920 to August 1924, and a number of

families lived on the island during that period, some of whom had been brought from Baffin Island on boats. In 1921, an overturned fisherman's dory covering two skeletons was found by Captain George Cleveland on Coats Island which were alleged to be the remains of Captain Arthur Gibbons and one of his officers, survivors of the wreck of the American whaling schooner '' A. T. Gifford''. The Canadian Government held a criminal investigation.Description Full Display
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References

{{Subdivisions of Nunavut Islands of Hudson Bay Uninhabited islands of Kivalliq Region Hudson's Bay Company trading posts in Nunavut Former populated places in the Kivalliq Region