Ulukhaktok ((Kangiryuarmiutun (Inuit):Ulukhaqtuuq,pronounced[ulukhɑqtuːq̚]) and known until 1 April 2006 asHolman orHolman Island) is a smallInuvialuit Settlement Region hamlet on the west coast ofVictoria Island, in theInuvik Region of theNorthwest Territories, Canada.

Ulukhaktok Ulukhaqtuuq Uluqsaqtuuq
Hamlet
Looking at Ulukhaktok from the bluffs that give the community its name.
Ulukhaktok Show map of Northwest Territories Ulukhaktok Show map of Canada
Coordinates:70°44′12″N117°46′19″W / 70.73667°N 117.77194°W /70.73667; -117.77194[2]
Country	Canada
Territory	Northwest Territories
Government region	Inuvik Region[1]
Constituency	Nunakput
Census division	Region 1
Land claim	Inuvialuit Settlement Region
Settled	1937
Incorporated (hamlet)	1 April 1984[3]
Government
• Mayor	Joshua Oliktoak[1]
• Acting Senior Administrative Officer	Mary Banksland[1]
• MLA	Jackie Jacobson
Area [4]
• Land	120.71 km2 (46.61 sq mi)
Elevation	36 m (118 ft)
Highest elevation	36 m (118 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2021)[4]
• Total	408
• Density	3.4/km2 (9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
Canadian Postal code	X0E 0S0
Area code	867
Telephone exchange	396
– Living cost (2018)	192.5A
– Food price index (2019)	179.9B
Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[1] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[5] Canada Flight Supplement[6] ^A 2018 figure based onEdmonton = 100[7] ^B 2019 figure based onYellowknife = 100[7]

Like other small traditional communities in the territories,hunting,trapping, andfishing are major sources of income, butprintmaking has taken over as the primary source of income in recent years. The two principal languages in Ulukhaktok are theKangiryuarmiutun dialect ofInuinnaqtun, which is part of theInuvialuktun group,^[8] and English.

The village has the world's most northerlygolf course.

The community was covered in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement as part of theirland claims and is in theInuvialuit Settlement Region.

The first people to settle in the area wereNatkusiak and his family in 1937. Two years later, theHudson's Bay Company relocated from Walker Bay and aRoman Catholicmission was opened the same year.

The English name,Holman, was in honour of J.R. Holman, a member of SirEdward Augustus Inglefield's 1853 expedition in search for theArctic explorer,John Franklin.^[9] The community was sometimes known asHolman Island. This, however, is the name of the small island outcrop to the east-southeast in theAmundsen Gulf.

In 2006, the community was renamed,Ulukhaktok, the traditional Kangiryuarmiutun name for the area, which means "the place whereulu parts are found", or "a large bluff where we used to collect raw material to make ulus".^[10][11] The large bluff that overlooks Ulukhaktok was the source that provided theslate andcopper used to make ulus and give the community its name. Thus, the people who live there are calledUlukhaktokmiut[ulukhɑqtuːq̚miut] ("people of"). Ulukhaktokmiut is a recent word as no people actually lived permanently in this area until the opening of theHudson's Bay Company store, although people did visit the area to obtain the ulu materials and camp en route to other nomadic seasonal camp areas.

Inuit traded with mainland groups as far east asKing William Island and as far south asGreat Bear Lake although most commerce occurred with theInuvialuit andCopper Inuit populations indigenous to theCoppermine River watershed andBernard Harbour seasonal areas on the mainland. The majority of Ulukhaktokmiut come from a varied background, with family ties extending mainly to the Coppermine River community ofKugluktuk,Nunavut and the communities of theMackenzie River Delta andBeaufort Sea, though some families have relatives as far away asGjoa Haven on King William Island, and along thenorth slope of Alaska as far asPort Clarence on theSeward Peninsula.

Some families are descendants of the Danish explorer-traderChristian Klengenberg.^[12] Others are descended from two members of theVilhjalmur Stefansson-ledCanadian Arctic Expedition. The first was Natkusiak, a friend of Stefansson, and the primary guide and lead hunter of the expedition. Originally from Port Clarence,Alaska he was later known as Billy Banksland, this name coming from his time trappingArctic foxes onBanks Island.^[13] Another member of the expedition with relatives in the area was the AlaskanIñupiat, Ikey Bolt fromPoint Hope. Married to Klengenberg's daughter Etna, they lived for several years atRymer Point before moving toMinto Inlet and eventually to Coppermine (now Kugluktuk).^[14]

In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Ulukhaktok had a population of408 living in134 of its159 total private dwellings, a change of3% from its 2016 population of396. With a land area of 120.71 km² (46.61 sq mi), it had a population density of3.4/km² (8.8/sq mi) in 2021.^[4]

In 2016, 370 (96.4%) of its residents wereInuvialuit orInuit and the rest (3.6%) were non-Indigenous. The main languages in the community areInuinnaqtun (Inuvialuktun) and English.^[15]

The hamlet has seen both sides of the rush for mineral exploration and has regained an appreciation for its wild places andculturally sensitive areas where long-gone relatives once survived and lived with the ice and snow. Some private concerns have witnessed the zeal with which these locals defend their competing interests for the same tracts of land and resources. Other companies have learned to work with residents and this has produced some hope for mineral development around traditional lands and other cultural areas of these Inuvialuit and their fellow Inuit brethren. Arts and crafts are also another source of income with international recognition of local artisans. Occasionally some residents travel to such places asSan Francisco,California orMelbourne,Australia, but more often to other regional centres across the north.^{[citation needed]}

Ulukhaktok is home to the Holman EskimoCo-op founded in 1961^[24][25] by the residents of the community with the help ofRoman Catholic priest, Father Henri Tardy. The Co-op was formed to provide income to the residents of the community by producing arts and crafts, and is famous for the production of prints. Formally Holman Prints, artists in the community sell their art though the Ulukhaktok Arts Centre. Famous artists who have produced prints for the Holman Eskimo Co-op includeMary K. Okheena andHelen Kalvak. The local school, Helen Kalvak Elihakvik is named after her.^[26]

In the 1960s and 1970s Holman Eskimo Co-operative also created a number of sealskin products for southern markets, including parkas, tapestries and stuffed animals. The sealskin parkas were made to last and still show up on the market.^[27] ThePrince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre inYellowknife also has a parka in their collection.^[28]

In 2001 theWinnipeg Art Gallery curated an exhibition "Holman: Forty Years of Graphic Art/Quarante Ans D'Art Graphique " which produced an exhibition catalogue^[29] authored by Winnipeg Art Gallery CuratorDarlene Coward Wight.

The Holman Eskimo Co-op is now involved in arts and crafts, retailing, the hotel business, and cable television. It operates both aCanada Post outlet, and the fuel delivery contract, and is the localAklak Air agent.

Ulukhaktok is also the location ofthe world's most northern golf course and hosts the "Billy Joss Open Celebrity Golf Tournament" every summer. Over the years they have managed to attract players from theEdmonton Oilers and theEdmonton Eskimos (now the Elks), as well as golfers from other countries. This tournament is growing and features excursions to traditional areas whereArctic char and NorthernLake trout are harvested for subsistence as well as limited commercial fishing and hunting.^{[citation needed]}

Ulukhaktok has atundra climate (ET) with short but cool summers and long cold winters.

• Mary K. Okheena (born 1957), graphic artist

• Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
• List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories
• Ulukhaktok/Holman Airport

• Richard G. Condon, Julia Ogina and the Holman Elders,The Northern Copper Inuit (ISBN 0-8020-0849-6)