Uvayuq, formerly ''Ovayok'' or ''Mount Pelly'', is an

esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Amer ...

Nunavut parks, QIA seek nominations for parks committees
/ref> in the

Kitikmeot Region Kitikmeot Region (; Inuktitut: ''Qitirmiut'' ) is an List of regions of Nunavut, administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boo ...

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 ...

. It is located in

northern Canada Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, terr ...

Victoria Island Victoria Island () is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth-largest island in the world, and at in area, it is Canada's second-largest i ...

within the

Ovayok Territorial Park Ovayok Territorial Park (sometimes Uvajuq, formerly Mount Pelly) is a park situated east of Cambridge Bay, in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada. The park is relatively small and covers an area of approximately . The park can be accessed b ...

. The hill, which is more than high, is located north east of the hamlet of

Cambridge Bay Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: Inuktitut syllabics, Inuktitut: ; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 1,760; Census geographic units of Canada#Population centres, population centre 1,403) is a Hamlet (place)#Canada, hamlet located on Victoria Is ...

, Nunavut.

History

The area around ''Uvayuq'' has long been used 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 ...

for hunting and there are over 120

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

sites on the esker. These include ''pirujaq'' (storage cache), campsites and a grave. The oddest find was a stack of

loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British English, British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family (biolog ...

bones that had been "cut at every joint". This find, which the local elders indicated was something they had never seen and must have happened before their grandparents were alive, fitted in with an Inuit legend. The legend indicated that people in the area were starving and they were saved only when a skilled hunter killed a loon. To feed all the people the bones had to be broken at the joints so all could be fed.

Modern history

The esker was given its English name by

Thomas Simpson Thomas Simpson FRS (20 August 1710 – 14 May 1761) was a British mathematician and inventor known for the eponymous Simpson's rule to approximate definite integrals. The attribution, as often in mathematics, can be debated: this rule had b ...

and

Peter Warren Dease Peter Warren Dease (1 January 1788 – 17 January 1863) was a Canadian fur trader and Arctic explorer. Biography Early life Peter Warren Dease was born at Fort Mackinac on 1 January 1788, the fourth son of Dr. John Dease, an Irish loyali ...

in 1839 to honour Sir John Henry Pelly, governor of 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 ...

. Simpson and Dease had travelled from

Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake (; ) in the boreal forest of Canada is the largest List of lakes of Canada, lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–United States border, Canada–US border), the fourth-larges ...

, down the

Coppermine River The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave Region, North Slave and Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake, a ...

, to Back River. In 1850-51 John Rae, while searching the south coast of Victoria Island for clues to the lost expedition of

John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Northern Canada, Canadia ...

, climbed to the top of Mount Pelly.

Traditional belief

Northwest of Uvayuq are two more eskers called Inuuhuktu (Baby Pelly) and Amaaqtuq (Lady Pelly). Inuit legend says that the three hills are a family of starving

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

s. They were crossing Victoria Island looking for food and the father, Uvayuq, died first. Next the son, Inuuhuktu (English; "teenaged boy"), died and was followed by the mother, Amaaqtuq (English; "packing baby", see

amauti The amauti (also ''amaut'' or ''amautik'', plural ''amautiit'') is the parka worn by Inuit women of the eastern area of Northern Canada. Up until about two years of age, the child nestles against the mother's back in the amaut, the built-in baby ...

), who was carrying her baby.

References

{{Mountains of Nunavut Mountains of Kitikmeot Region