Salluit (, "the thin ones") is the second northernmost

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 ...

community in Quebec, Canada, located on Sugluk Inlet close to the Hudson Strait and was formerly known as Sugluk. Its population was 1,483 in the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial censu ...

and the population centre had 1,075 people. It is not accessible by road, but by air through Salluit Airport. Salluit means "The Thin Ones" in

Inuktitut Inuktitut ( ; , Inuktitut syllabics, syllabics ), also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of ...

, referring to a time when local inhabitants were facing starvation as a result of a lack of wildlife.

History

In 1925, an independent trader opened 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 ...

on the site of present-day Salluit. Not to be outdone, 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 ...

(HBC) quickly established its own post on the far shore of Sugluk Inlet but relocated it soon after to Deception Bay, about to the east. In 1930, the HBC built a store at present-day Salluit and closed its post at Deception Bay in 1932. The golden years of

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

came to an end around 1936 when the price of pelts collapsed. In 1930 a Catholic mission was established, closing some twenty years later, but followed by an Anglican mission in 1955. The Government of Canada opened a day school in 1957. As more public services were being delivered, Inuit settled around the small village. The first residential houses were built in 1959 and ten years later a co-operative store was established by its residents. Salluit legally became a municipality in 1979. Since 1996, the police services in Salluit are provided by the Nunavik Police Service.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Salluit had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Education

The Kativik School Board operates two schools in Salluit. The first is Pigiurvik School, which is the primary school. The second is Ikusik School, which is the secondary school. Students attend Pigiurvik from Grade 1 to Grade 4, before attending Ikusik for Grade 5 to Secondary V.

Notable residents

* Elisapie Isaac, pop singer * Annie Ittoshat, Anglican bishop and pastor * Lucy Qinnuayuak, artist, born in Salluit * Lissie Saggiak, artist * Sugluk (band), rock group * Maggie MacDonnell, teacher, awarded the " Global Teacher Prize" of the Varkey Foundation 2017.Merlin John,
"Top teacher fights for Canada's indigenous people"
Business, BBC News, 26 July 2017.

References

External links