Kugluktuk
Population: 1,362
Situated on Coronation Gulf (part of the Northwest Passage), at the mouth of the Coppermine River, Kugluktuk is an important centre of the arts and Inuit culture. The name means "place of moving water", and refers to the nearby rapids at Kugluk/Bloody Falls.
Just 15 km from the community is Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park to the west side of the Coppermine. The park centres on the falls, where the River is forced into a narrow channel of vigorous rapids and twisting eddies. The park is one of few with a shared history between the Inuit and the Dene Indians. The ancestors of both peoples fished and hunted here; the remnants of winter houses, used more than 500 years ago by the Thule, can still be seen. Other archaeological evidence indicates earlier inhabitants, some 1,500 to 3,500 years ago.
Inuit refer to the campsite below the falls as Onoagahiovik, the place where you "stay all night," a name that refers to fishing, which even today is an integral part of their lives. The park is a great place to do some late-summer char fishing.
The Coppermine River itself is designated a Canadian Heritage River for the important role it played as an exploration and fur trade route. Copper deposits along the river attracted the first explorers to the area.
The Kugluktuk Heritage Centre is a good resource for information on tours and the area’s history, which includes everything from incredible igloo carvings to handmade dolls.
The Nattiq Frolics, a week-long celebration of the spring, features everything from dancing, feasting, and Inuit games to seal hunting and snowmobile racing. In the summer, you can golf 18-holes at the Kugluktuk Golf Club located along the Arctic Ocean.








