Arctic Whalers
The Whaling Village at Qariaraqyuk
The long-abandoned village at
Qariaraqyuk is located in a key whaling area in the Central High
Arctic of Canada. It is the largest Thule village known, and its
57 whale-bone
winter houses
may have housed a population of about 300 people. Archaeological excavations
revealed much evidence of whale hunting, including
toboggans
made of whale baleen.
People lived in the village at Qariaraqyuk between about 800 to
500 years ago, and then abandoned it for reasons that remain
uncertain. Inuit bowhead whaling fell off sharply in most areas
at about this time. Since then, Canadian Inuit have continued to
hunt bowheads, but less systematically, often using
kayaks
rather than umiaqs.
Map of Qariaraqyuk, an archaeologial site and the largest Thule
Inuit village in Arctic Canada
Source: Peter Whitridge
 winter house
 summer /
fall tent ring
 food cache
 burials
 contour lines (2 m)
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Whalebone house ruins at the Brooman Point site, High Arctic
Canada
Courtesy of Robert McGhee, Canadian Museum of Civilization
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