Ottawa Islands

Ottawa Islands
Native name:
Arviliit or Arqvilliit
Ottawa Islands is located in Nunavut
Ottawa Islands
Ottawa Islands
Ottawa Islands is located in Canada
Ottawa Islands
Ottawa Islands
Geography
LocationHudson Bay, Nunavik Marine Region
Coordinates59°30′N 80°25′W / 59.500°N 80.417°W / 59.500; -80.417
ArchipelagoArctic Archipelago
Total islands24
Major islandsBooth Island, Bronson Island, Eddy Island, Gilmour Island, J. Gordon Island, Pattee Island, Perley Island
Highest elevation549 m (1801 ft)
Administration
Canada
Nunavik
Demographics
PopulationCurrently Uninhabited, access and harvest rights by Nunavik Inuit
Source: Ottawa Islands at Atlas of Canada

The Ottawa Islands (Inuit: Arviliit or Arqvilliit in Inuktitut meaning "place where you see bowhead whales")[1][2] are a group of currently uninhabited islands situated in the eastern edge of Canada's Hudson Bay. The group comprises 24 small islands, located at approximately 60N 80W.[3] The main islands include Booth Island, Bronson Island, Eddy Island, Gilmour Island, J. Gordon Island, Pattee Island, and Perley Island. The highest point is on Gilmour Island, which rises to over 1,800 ft (550 m).[3] Located a short distance off the northwest coast of Quebec's Ungava Peninsula, they, like the other coastal islands in Hudson Bay, were historically part of the Northwest Territories, and became Crown Land upon the creation of Nunavut in 1999. Nunavik Inuit have occupied these islands since time immemorial and gained constitutionally-protected harvest and access rights under the Nunavik Inuit Land Claim Agreement signed in 2007.[4][5]

  1. ^ Issenman, Betty. Sinews of Survival: The living legacy of Inuit clothing. UBC Press, 1997. pp252-254
  2. ^ "Arviliit". Avataq Cultural Institute, The Nunatop Project.
  3. ^ a b Columbia Gazetteer of North America Archived 2005-12-05 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 30, 2007
  4. ^ "Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement" (PDF).
  5. ^ "NILCA". Makivik Corporation.