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Coral Harbour

Within the context of the development of the Nunavut Parks Program, the Department of Environment, Parks and Special Places Division is studying the feasibility of developing an attraction(s) in the community of Coral Harbour as the focus for protecting and preserving the area's natural and cultural heritage, and enhancing opportunities for recreation, tourism and economic development.

Coral Harbour (Salliq) is known as the gateway to the incredible wildlife resources of Southampton Island, located in northern Hudson Bay; such as walrus, beluga, seals, polar bears and migratory birds. The community was named for the fossilized coral found in the harbour and at Fossil Creek. The area's wildlife provides a source of arts and crafts inspiration and materials - ivory, whalebone, and seal. Coral Harbour is also in close proximity to migratory bird sanctuaries, such as the East Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary (70 km to the east) and the Harry Gibbons Migratory Bird Sanctuary (140 km southwest of the community), with additional bird watching opportunities at Coats Island (130 km south of Coral Harbour).

Potential park development areas around Coral Harbour have been identified at Kirchoffer Falls (15 km west) for scenery and wildlife - primarily fox, caribou and snowy owls; North Coats/Bencas Island (150 km south) for wildlife, scenery, and archaeology; and Native Point (65 km southeast), a large archaeological site often called "the Lost City of the North" for its long history of Inuit habitation until the 1960s. There remain old sod huts from the original Sallirmiut inhabitants of the island. European and American whalers exploiting the waters around Southampton Island in the late 19th Century encountered the Sallirmiut. Disease effectively wiped out the Sallirmiut by 1903, but the remains of their camp at Native Point and their legends continue to represent the culture. In 1924, a local hunter lead the introduction of a Hudson's Bay Co. trading post on Southampton Island at the present site of Coral Harbour. The post attracted Inuit from around Hudson Bay and settlement around the post began. An American military base served European flights during the Second World War, and functioned later as a depot during the construction of DEW line stations in the high arctic.