Chesterfield Inlet

Photo: Nunatsiaq News

Overview

A community of just under 400 people (2021 census), Chesterfield Inlet is located in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut. It sits just south of the Arctic Circle along the west coast of the Hudson Bay, part of the Central Standard time zone.

Chesterfield Inlet is a 20-minute flight from Rankin Inlet, which is a 2.5-hour flight from Winnipeg. Travelling from Ottawa involves a longer trek: a 3-hour and 15-minute flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit and then a 2-hour flight from Iqaluit to Rankin Inlet.

Photo: Up Here Publishing

Highlights

Chesterfield Inlet is called Igluligaarjuk in Inuktitut, meaning place with a few 'thule houses'. Thule refers to early Inuit who inhabited the Arctic, from Alaska to Greenland, in 1000 CE. A thule winter house is made primarily of stone, earth, moss, and a whalebone roof, but driftwood and sod may also be used.

The community was the main supply centre for the Hudson's Bay Company for other posts in the area during the early fur-pelt trade.

Chesterfield Inlet is home to a snowcross club, which organizes and fundraises for an annual Spring Snowcross race that brings in amateur athletes from other communities to take part in races. It is also the birthplace of Charlie Panigoniak, a prominent Inuit musician who received the Order of Nunavut in 2012, naming him "an ambassador for the territory and its people."

Weather and landscape

Located near the 63rd parallel, Chesterfield Inlet has a subarctic climate. It receives just under 20 hours of daylight on its longest day and about 4 hours on its shortest day.

Summer temperatures in Chesterfield Inlet can range from 0°C to 15°C; winter temperatures hover around -25°C. The record low temperature for the hamlet is -70°C with the wind chill. June to September are considered summer months with temperatures staying above freezing on average.

Chesterfield Inlet is located on a low and narrow coastal strip. It has sand and gravel with low granite outcrops and inland lakes. In the summer months you can see cloudberries, wild strawberries, and dwarf fireweed flowers.

Photo: Chesterfield-Inlet.ca