Smith Island (also called Cape Smith Island[1]) is a northern Canadian island in eastern Hudson Bay.[2][3] It is a part of Qikiqtaaluk Region in the territory of Nunavut, though situated 2 km (1.2 mi) off the western coast of Quebec's Ungava Peninsula, right where the Inuit village of Akulivik is located.[4]
Native name: Qikirtajuaq | |
|---|---|
Smith Island in the distance, seen from Akulivik | |
  Location within Nunavut  Location within Canada | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Hudson Bay |
| Coordinates | 60°46′N 78°28′W / 60.77°N 78.46°W |
| Archipelago | Arctic Archipelago |
| Area | 131 km2 (51 sq mi) |
| Length | 25.5 km (15.84 mi) |
| Administration | |
Canada | |
| Territory | Nunavut |
| Region | Qikiqtaaluk |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
The island was named in 1750 after Sir Thomas Smith, a merchant and first Governor of The Company of Adventurers,[5] and is also called Qikirtajuaq by the Inuit, who use it as one of their traditional hunting grounds.[6] The island is home to several significant archaeological sites from Thule and Paleo-Eskimo periods.[1][4]
Cape Smith is the western-most point of the island,[7] as well as the name of a locality on the southern coast of the island, the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company post.[8] It also gave its name to the Cape Smith Belt, an ophiolite that stretches across the entire Ungava Peninsula.[9]
The island is the summer habitat of large flocks of snow geese and Canada geese.[5]
History
edit
Circa 1178 (772 cal. a BP.), the Dorset people made semi-subterranean winter houses of rock and peat on the island. The Thule people reused this site about a century later, after the Dorset people had left.[4]
In 1610, Henry Hudson was the first European explorer into the bay named after him, passing by Smith Island while sailing south along the bay’s eastern coast.[10]
In 1922, the Hudson's Bay Company established a fur trade post at what is known today as Akulivik, but moved it to Smith Island in 1926. Some Inuit began to settle around the post, called Cape Smith or Suglouvoosiuk-Noova Hikikriguak by its Inuit name, while the Akulivik area was used as a summer camp. By 1933, there were about 140 Inuit living on Smith Island. In July 1952, the post was closed and the Inuit relocated to Puvirnituq.[5][11]
References
edit- 1 2 Pierre M. Desrosiers (5 November 2010). "Archaeological Research at Cape Smith Island and in the Akulivik Area, Summer 2010". www.avataq.qc.ca. Avataq Cultural Institute. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
- ↑ "Smith Island". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
- ↑ "Other Arctic Islands". atlas.nrcan.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
- 1 2 3 Bhiry, N., Marguerie, D., Weetaluktuk, T., Desrosiers, P. M., Todisco, D., Desroches Bourgon, M. & Aoustin, D. (July 2021). "Dorset and Thule Inuit occupations of Qikirtajuaq (Smith Island), Nunavik, Canada: a palaeoecological approach". Boreas. 50: 826–843. doi:10.1111/bor.12515. ISSN 0300-9483.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - 1 2 3 "Akulivik". www.makivvik.ca. ᒪᑭᕝᕕᒃ - Makivvik. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
- ↑ "Akulivik". Nunavik Arctic Survival Training Center. nastc.ca. Archived from the original on 8 February 2026. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
- ↑ "Cape Smith (cape)". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
- ↑ "Cape Smith (locality)". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
- ↑ Bleeker, Wouter; Kamo, Sandra (2020). "Structural-stratigraphic setting and U-Pb geochronology of Ni-Cu-Co-PGE ore environments in the central Cape Smith Belt, Circum-Superior Belt". Targeted Geoscience Initiative 5 (Open File 8722). Natural Resources Canada.: 65–98. doi:10.4095/326882. Archived from the original on 24 April 2026. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
- ↑ "Henry Hudson: Definition & Discoveries". history.com. A&E Television Networks. 9 November 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
- ↑ "Hudson's Bay Company: Cape Smith". pam.minisisinc.com. Archives of Manitoba - Keystone Archives Descriptive Database. Retrieved 22 April 2026.