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Coppermine | Kugluktuk River

ᑯᒡᓗᒃᑐᒃ


Province
Nunavut
Length
450km

Story Map

Each Heritage River Story Map displays various visual representations of geospatial data in combination with text, photos, videos and external links.

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ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ   |   This page is available in Inuktitut

Natural Heritage

The Coppermine River is 450 km long (including the Kendall River and Melville Creek tributaries), and stretches from the Nunavut/Northwest Territories border to Kugluktuk. The watershed river is bordered by Great Bear Lake to the west, Great Slave Lake to the south drains into the and Coronation Gulf to the north.

The Coppermine flows energetically through the tundra, where stunted spruce trees dot its banks. Red sandstone cliffs upriver change to white sandstone then into rolling white marine sediments as the river approaches the coast. Chains of small hills dominate a landscape that is rich with wildlife as the river continues its path northward into a more wetland like tundra environment. Muskoxen and caribou graze on the vegetation of the uplands on constant alert for wolves or grizzlies.

The Coppermine provides habitat for arctic foxes, tundra wolves and wolverines that find shelter on the river banks and hunt along the river’s floodplain. The river is also an important habitat for bird species such as tundra swan, geese, and for raptors including peregrine and gyrfalcons. Both golden and bald eagles nest on cliff ledges above the river.

Cultural Heritage

The Coppermine is the ancestral home of Inuit and Dene peoples, and ancient campsites can be found along the entire waterway. For thousands of years the Coppermine River has been a well-used travel route, favoured for its resource rich environment. The Pre-Dorset people hunted along its banks using tiny tools chipped out of flint or chert, including small knife blades, arrowheads and scrapers.

Today, ancient campsites are common along the river, and paddlers will find past and present food storage cache sites, fox traps, kayak racks, hunting blinds (called ‘taluit’) as well as game funneling systems of stone cairns (called ‘inuksuit’). These archaeological features are wondrous to see in person, but should be respected and left undisturbed. The Department of Culture and Heritage for Government of Nunavut encourages anyone who comes upon archaeological features, sites or artefacts to report the findings to the Territorial Chief Archaeologist.

Near the mouth of the river, Kugluk (Bloody Falls) Territorial Park features a narrow gorge, waterfall, and rushing rapids. The fascinating history of this site includes its millennia-long use as a fishing camp.The Coppermine also figured prominently in the exploration of the arctic, and featured in the voyages of Samuel Hearne in 1771, in the first Franklin expedition, in 1820, and the second Franklin expedition, in 1825.

Recreational Heritage

The Coppermine is perfect for both advanced and novice paddlers, who will cross the Arctic Circle on the river’s way to the Arctic Ocean. A number of commercial operators offer canoe, raft and kayak trips on the Coppermine ranging from one to three weeks. River trips usually start with a chartered floatplane out of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, and end at the river’s mouth, in the community of Kugluktuk, Nunavut, where paddlers can camp on the shore of the Arctic Ocean before flying out on commercial flights.

The river has excellent fishing, for various species of fish such as lake trout, arctic grayling and, in the lower reaches of the river, for arctic char.

Fun Fact

The Inuit of Kugluktuk speak Inuinnaqtun, an Inuit language mostly spoken in the western part of Nunavut. They are Copper Inuit people. They have distinct cultural traditions and live on the Nunavut / Northwest Territories border. The Copper Inuit were so named because they made arrowheads, spearheads, ulu blades, chisels, harpoons and knives from copper that was sourced along the shores of the Coppermine River and are descendants of the ancient Thule people.

River Managers

The Coppermine River has been nominated but has not yet been fully designated as a Canadian Heritage River. Once it is fully designated, it will be managed jointly through a collaboration of several community partners, which is coordinated by Nunavut Parks and Special Places, a division of the Government of Nunavut.

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Designation

The 450 km Coppermine, in the western part of Nunavut, was nominated to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System in 2002 for its natural heritage, cultural heritage, and recreational values.

The river has long been a travel corridor for the indigenous peoples of the North. Copper deposits found along the river were important to the first peoples who lived there. To this day, the river continues to support the Inuit lifestyle and culture.

The river flows through lands rich in wildlife, where muskox and caribou graze on the sparse vegetation of the uplands, and wolves and grizzlies patrol the river banks in search of food.

Partners

  • Kitikmeot Inuit Association and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated