Quaqtaq

Quaqtaq (Inuktitut: ᖁᐊᕐᑕᖅ) is a northern village (Inuit community) in Nunavik, northern Quebec, Canada. Its population was 453 in the Canada 2021 Census.

For the Inuit reserved land of the same name, see Quaqtaq (Inuit reserved land).
Quaqtaq
ᖁᐊᕐᑕᖅ
Northern village municipality
Quaqtaq is located in Quebec
Quaqtaq
Quaqtaq
Coordinates: 61°02′N 69°37′W[1]
Country Canada
Province Quebec
RegionNord-du-Québec
TEKativik
ConstitutedNovember 1, 1980
Government
[2]
 • MayorEva Deer
 • Federal ridingAbitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou
 • Prov. ridingUngava
Area
[2][3]
 • Total26.60 km2 (10.27 sq mi)
 • Land25.82 km2 (9.97 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[4]
 • Total453
 • Density17.5/km2 (45/sq mi)
 • Pop (2006–11)
Increase12.4%
 • Dwellings
173
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)
J0M 1J0
Area code819
Websitewww.nvquaqtaq.ca

The village is one of the northernmost inhabited places in Quebec, located on the eastern shore of Diana Bay (Tuvaaluk in the Inuktitut language), on a peninsula which protrudes into the Hudson Strait where it meets Ungava Bay.[5]

The name Quaqtaq signifies tapeworm. According to local folklore, this name derives from a man who once came to the area to hunt beluga and found live parasites in his feces. His hunting companions began to call the place Quaqtaq.

Inaccessible by road, Quaqtaq is served by the small Quaqtaq Airport.

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that people have occupied the area around Quaqtaq for about 3500 years. Thule people, the ancestors of today's Inuit, arrived around 1400 or 1500 AD.

In 1947, a Roman Catholic mission opened in Quaqtaq. The present-day settlement was established after a trading post first established in 1927 at Iggiajaaq, a few kilometres south-west, was finally closed in 1950. After a measles epidemic killed 11 adults in 1952, the Canadian government began delivering basic services to the community. A nursing station was built in 1963. In the 1960s, the Quebec government opened a store and a post office equipped with a radio-telephone. In 1974, the store became a co-operative and, in 1978, Quaqtaq was legally established as a Northern village.

Since 1996, policing is provided by the Kativik Regional Police Force.[6]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Quaqtaq had a population of 453 living in 144 of its 173 total private dwellings, a change of 12.4% from its 2016 population of 403. With a land area of 25.82 km2 (9.97 sq mi), it had a population density of 17.5/km2 (45.4/sq mi) in 2021.[7]

Population trend:[8]

  • Population in 2021: 453 (2016 to 2021 population change: 12.4%)
  • Population in 2016: 403
  • Population in 2011: 376
  • Population in 2006: 315
  • Population in 2001: 305
  • Population in 1996: 257
  • Population in 1981: 150

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 144 (total dwellings: 173)

Education

The Kativik School Board operates the Isummasaqvik School.[9]

People

Notable people from the community include musicians Beatrice Deer and Jaaji Uppik.

References
  1. "Reference number 98666 in Banque de noms de lieux du Québec". toponymie.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec.
  2. "Geographic code 99115 in the official Répertoire des municipalités". www.mamh.gouv.qc.ca (in French). Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation.
  3. "Data table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Quaqtaq, Village nordique (VN) [Census subdivision], Quebec". 9 February 2022.
  4. "Census Profile, 2016 Census - Quaqtaq, Village nordique [Census subdivision], Quebec and Nord-du-Québec, Census division [Census division], Quebec". 8 February 2017.
  5. Dorais, Louis-Jacques (1997). Quaqtaq: Modernity and Identity in an Inuit Community. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-8020-7952-0.
  6. KRPF. "General Information". Home. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  7. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Quebec". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  8. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 census
  9. "Our Schools." Kativik School Board. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.
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