Tuktoyaktuk

Community Name:                 Tuktoyaktuk
Traditional/Former Name:   Tuktuujaartuq (looks like a caribou)
Land Claim Area:           Inuvialuit
Electoral District:             Nunakput
Member of the Legislative Assembly:  Jackie Jacobson
Member of Parliament:   Dennis Bevington
Senator:                             Nick G. Sibbeston
Community Leader:       His Worship Mervin Gruben  
                                           Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk
                                  P.O. Box 120 
                                  Tuktoyaktuk, NT  X0E 1C0
                                  Phone:  867-977-2286

Location:  Tuktoyaktuk is located on Kugmallit Bay at 69'27'N latitude and 133'02'W longitude near the Mackenzie River Delta. The northernmost community on the Canadian mainland, Tuktoyaktuk is 137 km north of Inuvik.

Population:  1010 (2004 Census)

Languages:  Inuvialuktun, English

Access:  The community is accessible by air from Inuvik year round and bulk supplies and food are barged in during the summer months. Ice roads link Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik and Aklavik in the winter.

History:  Many Inuit whalers lived in the area near Tuktoyaktuk during the 19th century however between 1890 and 1910 American whalers brought recurring epidemics of influenza into the area and decimated the population. Alaskan Dene came in their place and stayed, and in 1928 Herschel Island residents moved to the community, coinciding with the construction of the Hudson Bay Company Post. Additional development occurred in the next 30-40 year to the point where Tuktoyaktuk was the largest Western Arctic community on the coast and was an important point for the re-supply of DEW line stations

Today the Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) employs many in the transportation industry while others work in the exploration field. The petroleum industry is also a key aspect of the economy. Traditional lifestyles, hunting and trapping still provide seasonal incomes to many families.