Belcher Islands

Coordinates: 56°11′N 79°15′W / 56.183°N 79.250°W / 56.183; -79.250[1]
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Belcher Islands
Region
Qikiqtaaluk
Demographics
Population882 (2016)
Pop. density0.30/km2 (0.78/sq mi)
Ethnic groupsInuit

The Belcher Islands (

Inuktitut: ᓴᓪᓚᔪᒐᐃᑦ, Sanikiluaq)[2] are an archipelago in the southeast part of Hudson Bay near the centre of the Nastapoka arc. The Belcher Islands are spread out over almost 3,000 km2 (1,200 sq mi). Administratively, they belong to the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. The hamlet of Sanikiluaq (where the majority of the inhabitants of the Belcher Islands live) is on the north coast of Flaherty Island and is the southernmost in Nunavut. Along with Flaherty Island, the other large islands are Kugong Island, Tukarak Island, and Innetalling Island.[3] Other main islands in the 1,500–island archipelago are Moore Island, Wiegand Island, Split Island, Snape Island and Mavor Island, while island groups include the Sleeper Islands, King George Islands, and Bakers Dozen Islands.[4]

History

The archaeological evidence present on the islands indicates that they were inhabited by the Dorset culture between 500 BCE and 1000 CE. Centuries later, from 1200 to 1500, the Thule people made their presence on the islands.[5]

The first European to discover the islands was English sea explorer Henry Hudson, the namesake of Hudson Bay, who sighted the island in 1610.[6] The islands are named after Royal Navy Admiral Sir Edward Belcher (1799–1877).

In the early 19th century, caribou herds which lived on the islands disappeared. In an alternative effort to find warm clothing, the inhabitants of the islands sought the down of eider ducks, seaducks who nest on the island.[5]

Before 1914, English-speaking cartographers knew very little about the Belcher Islands, which they showed on maps as specks, much smaller than their true extent. In that year a map showing them, drawn by George Weetaltuk,

Robert Flaherty, and cartographers began to represent them more accurately.[8]

In 1941, a religious movement led by Charley Ouyerack, Peter Sala, and his sister Mina caused the death by blows or exposure of nine persons, an occurrence that came to be known as the Belcher Island Murders.[9][10]

Geology

Folded Proterozoic dolomites in the Belcher (Sanikiluaq) Islands
Sanikiluaq hamlet
. These rocks are about 2 billion years old. Width of bottom of photo is about 5 metres.

General geology

The geologic units of the Belcher Group, which forms the Belcher Islands, were deposited during the Paleoproterozoic. Combined with other Paleoproterozoic units that occur along the edge of the Superior Craton, the Belcher Group forms part of the Circum-Superior Belt.[11]

From youngest to oldest, the Belcher Group is composed of:[12][13]

The oldest part of the Belcher Group, the Kasegalik Formation, was deposited between 2.0185 and 2.0154 billion years ago.[14] The Kasegalik Formation also contains the oldest unambiguous Cyanobacteria microfossils.[15] Much of the Belcher Group strata were deposited under intertidal to shallow-water conditions, although the Mavor Formation formed a platform margin stromatolite reef complex,[16] and the overlying Costello and Laddie formations represent slope and deep basin deposits, respectively.[14][16] The Kipalu Formation, deposited approximately 1.88 billion years ago, is notable for being a granular iron formation.[12][13] The Flaherty Formation basalt that composes much of the Belcher Islands was deposited between 1.87 and 1.854 billion years ago,[14] with the overlying Omarolluk and Loaf formations being deposited from 1.854 billion years ago until sometime after 1.83 billion years ago.[14][17]

Soapstone

The occurrence of very high-quality soapstone in the Belcher Islands supports a locally significant carving industry.[18] These soapstone occurrences formed when sedimentary rocks of the Belcher Group were intruded by Haig sills and dykes approximately 1.87 billion years ago.[18] Most soapstone is quarried from a site on western Tukarak Island where dolomite of the Costello Formation was intruded by hot magma,[18] with dolomite reacting with quartz and water under intense heat to form talc, calcite, and carbon dioxide:

3CaMg(CO3)2 + 4SiO2 + H2O → [Heat] Mg3Si4O10(OH)2 + 3CaCO3 + 3CO2

Other minerals within the soapstone are largely calcite, dolomite, talc, and clinochlore, with minor amounts of ilmenite.

Although most soapstone has been sourced from two quarries, the relatively widespread occurrence of Haig intrusions within the Belcher Islands suggests that there may be many more possible sources of high-quality soapstone not yet discovered.[19]

Flora

Landsat satellite photo of Belcher Islands

Several species of willow (

hybrids between S. arctica and S. glauca.[20]
Trees cannot grow on the islands because of a lack of adequate soil.[21]

Fauna

The main wildlife consists of

lump fish, and sculpin.[22] The historical relationship between the Sanikiluaq community and the eider is the subject of a feature-length Canadian documentary film called People of a Feather. The director, cinematographer and biologist Joel Heath, spent seven years on the project, writing biological articles on the eider.[23][24]

In 1998, the Belcher Island caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) herd numbered 800.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Belcher Islands". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. ^ Issenman, Betty. Sinews of Survival: The living legacy of Inuit clothing. UBC Press, 1997. pp252-254
  3. ^ "Section 15, Chart Information" (PDF). pollux.nss.nima.mil. p. 322. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-11-19. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  4. ISBN 978-0-7881-7046-1
    . Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  5. ^ a b "History of Sanikiluaq – Past and Present". Welcome to Sanikiluaq. Hamlet of Sanikiluaq. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Belcher Islands". Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  7. ^ "George Weetaltuk (ca. 1862–1956)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  8. ISBN 0-500-24105 8
    .
  9. ^ "'At the End of the World' tells a shocking tale of murder in the Arctic". Anchorage Daily News. March 26, 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  10. ^ Morton, James C. (2014-03-30). "Morton's Musings: When 'God' and 'Satan' battled in a barren land; the Belcher Islands Murders". Morton's Musings. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  11. ISBN 978-0-444-41910-1
    , retrieved 2021-03-18
  12. ^
    doi:10.4095/101205
    .
  13. ^
    doi:10.4095/292434
    .
  14. ^
    S2CID 197578328
    .
  15. JSTOR 1303547
    .
  16. ^
    doi:10.4095/109371
    .
  17. S2CID 233524866
    .
  18. ^ a b c Timlick, L. (2017). "Comparative study of the petrogenesis of excellent-quality carving stone from Korok Inlet, southern Baffin Island, and the Belcher Islands, Nunavut" (PDF). Summary of Activities – via Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office.
  19. ^ Steenkamp, H.M. (2016). "Geological mapping and petrogenesis of carving stone in the Belcher Islands, Nunavut" (PDF). Summary of Activities – via Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office.
  20. ISBN 9780195318227
    . Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  21. ^ "Belcher Islands". Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  22. ^ "Belcher Island Kayak Tour". Archived from the original on 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  23. ^ "People of a Feather (2011)". IMDBaccessdate=8 February 2012. 8 November 2013.
  24. ^ "People of a Feather". Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  25. ^ Mallory, F.F.; Hillis, T.L. (1998), "Demographic characteristics of circumpolar caribou populations: ecotypes, ecological constraints/releases, and population dynamics", Rangifer (Special Issue 10): 9–60, retrieved 18 December 2013

Further reading

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belcher Islands.
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