In 1576, English seamanMartin Frobisher, the namesake ofFrobisher Bay, made landfall on the island, naming it "Queen Elizabeth's Foreland".[9] The island is named after English explorerWilliam Baffin, who, in 1616,[10] came across the island while trying to discover theNorthwest Passage.[11]
Topography of Baffin IslandCoast of theRemote Peninsula inKangiqtualuk Uqquqti (Sam Ford Fjord), northeast Baffin IslandSouthern tip of Baffin IslandMount Thor, a large cliff on Baffin IslandMap of Thule expansion in Canada and GreenlandPangnirtung
Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, is located on the southeastern coast. Until 1987, the town was called Frobisher Bay, after the English name forFrobisher Bay on which it is located, named forMartin Frobisher.[13] That year, the community voted to restore theInuktitut name.[14]
TheBaffin Mountains run along the northeastern coast of the island and are a part of theArctic Cordillera. The highest peak isMount Odin, with an elevation of at least 2,143 m (7,031 ft), although some sources say 2,147 m (7,044 ft).[22][23] Another peak of note isMount Asgard, located inAuyuittuq National Park, with an elevation of 2,011 m (6,598 ft).Mount Thor, with an elevation of 1,675 m (5,495 ft), is said to have thegreatest purely vertical drop (a sheer cliff face) of any mountain on Earth, at 1,250 m (4,100 ft).[24]
The two largest lakes on the island lie in the south-central part of the island:Nettilling Lake (5,542 km2; 2,140 sq mi) andAmadjuak Lake (3,115 km2; 1,203 sq mi) further south.[25][26][27]
Baffin Island has been inhabited for over 3,000 years, first by thepre-Dorset, followed by theDorset, and then by theThule people, ancestors of theInuit, who have lived on the island for the last thousand years.[28][29] The Thule people genetically and culturally completely replaced the Dorset people some time after 1300 CE.[30]
In about 986, Erik Thorvaldsson, known asErik the Red,[31] formed three settlements near the southwestern tip of Greenland.[32] In late 985 or 986,Bjarni Herjólfsson, sailing from Iceland to Greenland, was blown off course and sighted land southwest of Greenland. Bjarni appears to be the first European to see Baffin Island, and the first European to see North America beyond Greenland.[31] About 15 years later theNorse Greenlanders, led byLeif Erikson, a son of Erik the Red, started exploring new areas around the year 1000.[31] Baffin Island is thought to beHelluland, and the archaeological site atTanfield Valley is thought to have been a trading post.[33][34] TheSaga of Erik the Red, 1880 translation into English by J. Sephton from the original IcelandicEiríks saga rauða:
They sailed away from land; then to the Vestribygd and to Bjarneyjar (the Bear Islands). Thence they sailed away from Bjarneyjar with northerly winds. They were out at sea two half-days. Then they came to land, and rowed along it in boats, and explored it, and found there flat stones, many and so great that two men might well lie on them stretched on their backs with heel to heel. Polar-foxes were there in abundance. This land they gave name to, and called it Helluland (stone-land).[33]
Dating of some yarn and other artifacts, presumed to be left byVikings on Baffin Island, have produced an age that predates the Vikings by several hundred years.So, as Sutherland said, if you believe that spinning was not an indigenous technique that was used in Arctic North America, then you have to consider the possibility that as "remote as it may seem," these finds may represent evidence of contact with Europeans prior to the Vikings' arrival in Greenland.[8]
Sutherland's research eventually led to a 2012 announcement thatwhetstones had been found with remnants of alloys indicative of Viking presence.[39] In 2018, Michele Hayeur Smith ofBrown University, who specialises in the study ofancient textiles, wrote that she does not think the ancient Arctic people, the Dorset and Thule, needed to be taught how to spin yarn: "It's a pretty intuitive thing to do."[29]
...the date received on Sample 4440b fromNanook clearly indicates that sinew was being spun and plied at least as early, if not earlier, than yarn at this site. We feel that the most parsimonious explanation of this data is that the practice of spinning hair and wool into plied yarn most likely developed naturally within this context of complex, indigenous, Arctic fiber technologies, and not through contact with European textile producers. [...] Our investigations indicate thatPaleoeskimo (Dorset) communities on Baffin Island spun threads from the hair and also from the sinews of native terrestrial grazing animals, most likelymusk ox andarctic hare, throughout the Middle Dorset period and for at least a millennium before there is any reasonable evidence of European activity in the islands of the North Atlantic or in the North American Arctic.
A long-running debate disputes whether the Vikings taught indigenous peoples in the Canadian Arctic how to spin yarn when the invaders arrived in the region around 1,000 years ago. The team found that some of the spun yarn dates back at least 2,000 years, long before the Vikings arrived in the area. This shows that the indigenous peoples in the Canadian Arctic developed yarn-spinning technologies without any help from the Vikings, the scientists said.
In 1992,Elizabeth Wayland Barber wrote that a piece ofthree-ply yarn that dates to thePaleolithic era, that ended about 10,000 BP, was found at theLascaux caves in France. This yarn consisted of three s-twist strands that were z-plied, much like the way a three-ply yarn is made now, the Baffin Island yarn was a simple two-ply yarn.[36] The eight sod buildings and artifacts found in the 1960s atL'Anse aux Meadows, located on the northern tip ofNewfoundland Island, remains the only confirmed Norse site in North America outside of those found in Greenland.[41]
The population of Baffin Island at the2021 Canadian census was 13,039[2] giving a population density of0.03/km2 (0.07/sq mi). The population accounts for 67.37 per cent of the 19,355 people in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, 56.51 per cent of the population of theArctic Archipelago, and 35.38 per cent of the population of Nunavut.[2][50][51]
As of the2016 Canadian census the majority, 74.06 per cent, wereIndigenous peoples and 25.83 per cent were non-Indigenous.[52] This compares to 88.85 per cent and 14.12 per cent Indigenous and non-Indigenous people for Nunavut as a whole. This lower percentage of Indigenous peoples on Baffin Island results from Iqaluit being 59.29 per cent Indigenous and 40.65 per cent non-Indigenous. Of the total population 72.17 per cent areInuit, 0.92 per cent areFirst Nations, and 0.73 per cent areMétis. Except for a few First Nations people in Arctic Bay all non-Inuit Indigenous peoples live in Iqaluit.[53][54][55][56][57][58][59]
The hamlets of Kinngait (population: 1,396[2]) and Qikiqtarjuaq (population: 593[2]) do not lie on Baffin Island proper. Kinngait is situated onDorset Island, which is located a few kilometres from the south eastern tip of theFoxe Peninsula. Similarly, Qikiqtarjuaq is situated onBroughton Island, which is located near the northern coast of theCumberland Peninsula.
TheMary River Mine, an iron ore mine with an estimated 21-year life, atMary River, may include building a railway and a port to transport the ore.[62] This may create a temporary mining community there.
Barren-ground caribou herds migrate in a limited range from northern Baffin Island down to the southern part in winter, even to the Frobisher Bay peninsula, next toResolution Island, then migrating back north in the summer.[68] In 2012, a survey ofcaribou herds found that the local population was only about 5,000, a decrease of as much as 95% from the 1990s.[71]
Arctic hares are found throughout Baffin Island. Their fur is pure white in winter and moults to a scruffy dark grey in summer. Arctic hares and lemmings are an important food source for Arctic and red foxes and Arctic wolves.[72][73][74]
Lemmings are also found throughout the island and are a major food source for foxes, wolves and thesnowy owl. In the winter, lemmings dig complicated tunnel systems through the snow drifts to get to their food supply of dry grasses andlichens.[75]
Polar bears can be found all along the coast of Baffin Island but are most prevalent where thesea ice takes the form ofpack ice, where their major food sources—ringed seals (jar seal) andbearded seals—live. Polar bears mate approximately every year, bearing one to three cubs around March. Female polar bears may travel 10–20 km (6.2–12.4 mi) inland to find a large snow bank where they dig aden in which to spend the winter and later give birth. The polar bear population here is one of 19 genetically distinctdemes of thecircumpolar region.[76]
Red foxes can be found predominantly in the southernmost areas of Baffin Island, away from the harshest of winter weather, though some individuals may forage and explore elsewhere. The Arctic foxes can usually be found where polar bears venture on thefast ice close to land in their search for seals. Arctic foxes are scavengers and often follow polar bears to get their leavings. They also are known to take ground-nesting birds and their eggs and chicks, such as ducks, geese, ptarmigan, seagulls, shorebirds and even snowy owls, on occasion. On Baffin Island, Arctic foxes are sometimes trapped byInuit, but there is no longer a robustfur industry.[77]
TheArctic wolf and theBaffin Island wolf, agrey wolf subspecies, are also year-round residents of Baffin Island. Unlike the grey wolf in southern climes, Arctic wolves often have smaller social networks, due to the barren landscape and minimal resources, thus resulting in unique hierarchies when compared with wolves found further south. For example, Arctic wolves often do not hunt in packs, although a male-female pair may hunt together.[78]
Satellite image of Baffin IslandAn ice-coveredfjord on Baffin Island, with Davis Strait in the background
In the water (and under the ice), the main year-round species is theringed seal subspecies, theArctic ringed seal. It lives offshore within 8 km (5.0 mi) of land. In winter, it makes a number of breathing holes in the ice, up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) thick. It visits each one often to keep the hole open and free from ice. In March, when a female is ready to whelp, she will enlarge one of the breathing holes that has snow over it, creating a small "igloo" where she whelps one or two pups. Within three weeks the pups are in the water and swimming. In summer, some ringed seals keep to a narrow territory about 3 km (1.9 mi) along the shoreline but may move out into the open water. In the spring they spend more time on the surface of the ice.[82]
Water species that visit Baffin Island in the summer are:
Harp seals (or saddle-backed seals), which migrate from major breeding grounds off the coast ofLabrador and the southeast coast of Greenland to Baffin Island for the summer.[83] Migrating at speeds of 15–20 km/h (9.3–12.4 mph), they all come up to breathe at the same time, then dive and swim up to 1–2 km (0.62–1.24 mi) before surfacing again. They migrate in large pods consisting of a hundred or more seals to within 1–8 km (0.62–4.97 mi) of the shoreline, which they then follow, feeding oncrustaceans and fish.[84]
Walruses, which do not migrate far off land in the winter. They merely follow thefast ice, or ice that is solidly attached to land, and stay ahead of it as the ice hardens further and further out to sea. As winter progresses, they will always remain where there is open water free of ice. When the ice melts, they move in to land and can be found basking on rocks close to shore. One of the largest walrus herds can be found in the Foxe Basin on the western side of Baffin Island.[85]
Beluga or whitewhales migrate along the coast of Baffin Island; some head north to the feeding grounds in theDavis Strait between Greenland and Baffin Island, or into the Hudson Strait or any of the bays and estuaries in between. Usually travelling in pods of two or more, they can often be found very close to shore (100 m [330 ft] or less). They come up to breathe every 30 seconds or so as they make their way along the coastline eating crustaceans.
Narwhals, which are known for the males' long, spiralling single tusk, can also be found along the coast of Baffin Island in the summer. Much like their beluga cousins, they may be found in pairs or even in a large pod of ten or more males, females and newborns. They also can be often found close to the shoreline, gracefully pointing their tusks skyward as they come up for air.
The largest summer visitor to Baffin Island is thebowhead whale. Found throughout theArctic range, one group of bowhead whales is known to migrate to the Foxe Basin, a bay on the western side of Baffin Island.
Baffin Island lies in the path of a generally northerly airflow all year round, so, like much of northeastern Canada, it has an extremely cold climate. This brings very long, cold winters and foggy, cloudy summers, which have helped to add to the remoteness of the island. Spring thaw arrives much later than normal for a position straddling theArctic Circle: around early June at Iqaluit in the south-east but around early- to mid-July on the north coast where glaciers run right down to sea level. Snow, even heavy snow, can occur at any time of the year, although it is least likely in July and early August. Average annual temperatures at Iqaluit are around −9.5 °C (14.9 °F), compared with around 5 °C (41 °F) inReykjavík,[maps 1] which is at a similar latitude.[86]
Sea ice surrounds the island for most of the year and only disappears completely from the north coast for short, unpredictable periods from mid- to late June until the end of September.[87]
Most of Baffin Island lies north of theArctic Circle—all communities from Pangnirtung northwards havepolar night in winter andmidnight sun in summer. The eastern community of Clyde River hastwilight instead of night from April 26 until May 13, continuous sunlight for 21⁄2 months from May 14 to July 28, then twilight instead of night from July 29 until August 16. This gives the community just over 31⁄2 months without true night. In the winter, the sun sets on November 22 and does not rise again until January 19 of the next year.Pond Inlet has civil twilight from December 16 to December 26. However, there is twilight for at least 4 hours per day, unlike places such asEureka.[88]
TheBarnes Ice Cap, in the middle of the island, has been retreating since at least the early 1960s, when the Geographical Branch of the thenDepartment of Mines and Technical Surveys sent a three-man survey team to the area to measureisostatic rebound and cross-valley features of the Isortoq River.[89] Although in the 1970s parts of Baffin Island failed to have the usual ice-free period in the summer.[90]
The Polar Star Couloir, on Mount Beluga in theKangiqtualuk Uqquqti (Sam Ford Fjord) area nearClyde River, is listed inFifty Classic Ski Descents of North America as a backcountry skiing feature.[103]
^S. Brooke; R. Park (2016). "Pre-Dorset Culture". In M. Friesen; O. Mason (eds.).The Oxford Handbook of the Prehistoric Arctic. Vol. 1.doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199766956.013.39.
^abcWeber, Bob (July 22, 2018)."Ancient Arctic people may have known how to spin yarn long before Vikings arrived".Old theories being questioned in light of carbon-dated yarn samples.CBC. RetrievedJanuary 2, 2019.... Michele Hayeur Smith of Brown University in Rhode Island, lead author of a recent paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Hayeur Smith and her colleagues were looking at scraps of yarn, perhaps used to hang amulets or decorate clothing, from ancient sites on Baffin Island and the Ungava Peninsula. The idea that you would have to learn to spin something from another culture was a bit ludicrous," she said. "It's a pretty intuitive thing to do.
^ab"The Saga of Erik the Red".The Icelandic Saga Database. Sveinbjörn Þórðarson. RetrievedJanuary 12, 2019.This land they gave name to, and called it Helluland (stone-land).
^Stueck, Wendy; Taylor, Kate (December 4, 2014)."Canadian Museum of History reveals researcher was fired for harassment".The Globe and Mail. RetrievedJanuary 3, 2019.On the program, host Carol Off interviewed Dr. Sutherland [...] Off asked Dr. Sutherland whether she might have been fired from the Canadian Museum of Civilization (which was renamed the Canadian Museum of History last year) because her research was out of step with government views of Canadian history. Sutherland agreed [...]
^Armstrong, Jane (November 20, 2012)."Vikings in Canada?".A researcher says she's found evidence that Norse sailors may have settled in Canada's Arctic. Others aren't so sure.Maclean's. RetrievedJanuary 15, 2019.In fact, Fitzhugh thinks the cord at the centre of Sutherland's "eureka" moment is a Dorset artifact. "We have very good evidence that this kind of spun cordage was being used hundreds of years before the Norse arrived in the New World, in other words 500 to 600 CE, at the least," he says.
^Jarus, Owen (March 6, 2018)."Archaeologists Closer to Finding Lost Viking Settlement".Live Science. RetrievedJanuary 14, 2019.If Hóp is found it would be the second Viking settlement to be discovered in North America. The other is at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland.
^Lindstrøm, Ulf; Nilssen, Kjell (2013). "Harp seal foraging behaviour during summer around Svalbard in the northern Barents Sea: diet composition and the selection of prey".Polar Biology.36 (3):305–320.doi:10.1007/s00300-012-1260-x.S2CID17370939.
^"Sunrise/sunset calculator".National Research Council Canada. August 7, 2012. RetrievedMay 22, 2022. Note: Use "Sunrise/sunset, full year (civil twilight)" in the first box; "By latitude and longitude" in the second box; degrees 79 minutes 59 and north with 85 and 57 west; time zone is Eastern Time
^"Iqaluit A".Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010. Environment and Climate Change Canada. October 31, 2011. Climate ID: 2402590.Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 24, 2014.
^Pell, J., Grütter H., Neilson S., Lockhart, G., Dempsey, S. and Grenon, H. 2013. Exploration and discovery of the Chidliak Kimberlite Province, Baffin Island, Nunavut: Canada's newest diamond district. Proceedings of the 10th International Kimberlite Conference, Bangalore; Springer, New Delhi; extended abstract, 4 p.
Boas, Franz, and Ludger Müller-Wille.Franz Boas Among the Inuit of Baffin Island, 1883–1884 Journals and Letters. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.ISBN0-8020-4150-7
Kuhnlein HV, R Soueida, and O Receveur. 1996. "Dietary Nutrient Profiles of Canadian Baffin Island Inuit Differ by Food Source, Season, and Age".Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 96, no. 2: 155–62.
Lee, Alastair.Baffin Island: the Ascent of Mount Asgard. London: Frances Lincoln, 2011.ISBN9780711232211
Matthiasson, John S.Living on the Land Change Among the Inuit of Baffin Island. Peterborough, Canada: Broadview Press, 1992.ISBN0-585-30561-7
Maxwell, Moreau S.Archaeology of the Lake Harbour District, Baffin Island. Mercury series. Ottawa: Archaeological Survey of Canada, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada, 1973.
Sabo, George.Long Term Adaptations Among Arctic Hunter-Gatherers A Case Study from Southern Baffin Island. The Evolution of North American Indians. New York: Garland Pub, 1991.ISBN0-8240-6111-X
Sergy, Gary A.The Baffin Island Oil Spill Project. Edmonton, Alta: Environment Canada, 1986.
Stirling, Ian, Wendy Calvert, and Dennis Andriashek.Population Ecology Studies of the Polar Bear in the Area of Southeastern Baffin Island. [Ottawa]: Canadian Wildlife Service, 1980.ISBN0-662-11097-8
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