Reindeer Station
Qunngilaaq[1]
Locality
Modern buildings at Reindeer Station
Modern buildings at Reindeer Station
Reindeer Station is located in Northwest Territories
Reindeer Station
Reindeer Station
Location in the Northwest Territories
Reindeer Station is located in Canada
Reindeer Station
Reindeer Station
Reindeer Station (Canada)
Coordinates: 68°41′20″N 134°08′06″W / 68.68889°N 134.13500°W / 68.68889; -134.13500[2]
CountryCanada
TerritoryNorthwest Territories
RegionInuvik
Founded1932
Population
 (1950s)
 • Total90

Reindeer Station (known as Qunngilaaq[1] in the Inuvialuktun language) is an uninhabited locality in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located in the Caribou Hills, along the Mackenzie River's eastern channel.[4] The community was established in 1932 to house a herd of 3,442 reindeer purchased by the Government of Canada. The venture was intended to replace the traditional livelihood of the local Indigenous peoples, but few chose to become reindeer herders, so the government eventually sold the animals and Reindeer Station was abandoned in 1969. Most of its residential buildings were relocated to the larger centres of Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik.[5]

History

Scattered buildings along the shore of the Mackenzie River.
Reindeer Station viewed from the air, 2013

In the early 1920s, the Government of Canada received reports that the wild caribou herds of the Western Arctic were in steep decline. This would have placed the local Inuvialuit in danger of starvation. A similar event in 1890s Alaska led the United States Government to purchase a large herd of reindeer from Europe, introducing Native Alaskans to Old World animal husbandry practices. This Alaska Reindeer Service, headquartered at the Teller Reindeer Station, proved to be a modest success. In 1926, the Canadians decided to duplicate the program, hiring Danish botanist Erling Porsild to choose a suitable nucleus for the Canadian reindeer industry. By 1928, he had identified Mackenzie Delta as having the greatest potential, and the construction of Reindeer Station began. The next year, the federal government entered into a $225,000 contract with American "reindeer king" Carl J. Lomen to deliver 3,000 reindeer to the Canadian Arctic. The drive covered a distance of 2,400 km (1,500 mi) from Lomen's headquarters in Nome, Alaska, and a team of Norwegian Sámi herders were hired to drive the herd.[6][7]

Government officials expected the drive to be completed by 1931, but it was beset by accidents almost immediately. While the herd was still being assembled, its corral was destroyed by a storm in November 1929. Two stampedes occurred in July 1931 and March 1933, greatly delaying the journey. American and Canadian newspapers often reported on the delayed drive, and the party's Sámi leader, Andrew Bahr, was nicknamed "The Arctic Moses".[6] By June 1934, the herd reached the ice-covered Mackenzie Delta, but a storm triggered a third stampede, causing the animals to bolt back to the western shore. Warm summer conditions meant that another crossing could not be attempted until the next year.[6][8]

On March 6, 1935, the herd was successfully corralled at Reindeer Station. Of the 3,000 animals specified in the contract, 2,382 arrived, but only 20 per cent of the herd was found to have originated in Alaska. The drive was so delayed that the rest were born along the way.[7][8]

At its peak, Reindeer Station was a self-sufficient community with a population of about 90 people, mainly herders and their families. Amenities included a post office, school, church, generating plant, and Hudson's Bay Company trading post.[5]

Originally, the reindeer program was intended to replace the traditional lifestyle of the Inuvialuit. A three-year apprenticeship program would produce self-sufficient reindeer herders, each responsible for their own herd and territory. However, this difficult and lonely career did not prove popular, especially as it provided a lower income than hunting and trapping. From 1935 to the mid-1950s, only seven independent herds were established. The program was finally extinguished by new postwar developments in the Arctic. For those Inuvialuit willing to consider non-traditional wage labour, the construction of the DEW Line and the new town of Inuvik provided much higher incomes. The federal government sold the reindeer herd in 1960, and it remains privately owned today.[7]

While most historic buildings have been removed from Reindeer Station, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation continues to conduct traditional camps and workshops at the site.[1] Modern uses are limited by landslide risk.[9]

Filmmaker Peter Lynch profiled the project in the 1998 documentary film The Herd.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Inuvialuit Corporate Group Update" (PDF). 25 (3). Inuvik, NT: Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. November 2020: 10. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ↑ "Reindeer Station". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  3. "Reindeer Station". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  4. ↑ "Caribou Hills Hazard Maps". Aurora College Research Institute. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Heritage Sites". Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "The Great Canadian Reindeer Project". Canada's History. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 "NWT Timeline". 1935 Reindeer Herding in the Northwest Territories. Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  8. 1 2 "History Canada: Mar. 6, 1934: Canada's epic reindeer project". Radio Canada International. Archived from the original on 6 March 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "Inuvialuit Corporate Group Update" (PDF). 24 (3). Inuvik, NT: Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. October 2019: 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ↑ Tom McSorley, "The Herd: Peter Lynch and the secret history of Canada". Take One, Fall 1998.
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