A dwelling of heavy construction near a tributary of the Hornaday River. Norman Kudlak Jr. in the background.

The final season of a three-year cultural resource inventory was conducted in Tuktut Nogait National Park of Canada in July, 2001. Tuktut Nogait is one of Canada’s newest parks, located near the community of Paulatuuq (Paulatuk). The project was launched to find and record archaeological resources in the park, to assess their condition, make recommendations for management, and to offer some interpretations about the previous inhabitants and visitors to the area. The 18 days of fieldwork in 2001 concentrated on the south half of the park, effectively completing the goal of surveying all key areas within the existing park boundaries. Only surface sites were studied, and no artifacts were collected.

One of the main goals this year was to complete the survey of the Hornaday River within the Park boundary. The Hornaday is expected to be one of the most intensively used canoe routes for visitors in future years. As a result, it was deemed important to complete the survey of this river to ensure that all sites recorded along its course can be adequately managed and protected.

A dwelling on an island at an unnamed lake west of the Hornaday River. Myrna Pokiak in the background.

The Hornaday River survey was completed within two weeks, with two people walking on either side of the river, supported by two paddlers in two canoes on the river itself. In total the survey party walked and paddled nearly 120 km along the river, amounting to over 200 km when all the necessary detours and brief inland explorations of promising locations are factored in. Fifteen hours of helicopter flying time–over a four-day period– was also used to explore all areas in the park not examined in the previous years of surveys. A small crew of two persons conducted ground-based surveys from the helicopter base camp while the aerial survey was being undertaken.

Over 100 previously unrecorded sites were found and documented in 2001, which brings the total of known sites within the park to over 350. Seventy-five were recorded in 1999, while over 120 were recorded in 2000. Marc Stevenson recorded 58 of the 350 sites in the early 1990s, and over 35 of the sites that he recorded were revisited to assess their condition between 1999 and 2001. Almost all of the sites recorded this year are in generally good and stable condition.

The information collected so far suggests the land was occupied periodically, if not constantly, from Classic Thule times, and perhaps earlier. The land continues to be used today by local Inuvialuit residents and by visitors. The types of sites encountered this year are similar to those recorded in previous years, with the exception that no graves, qayaq rests, or isolated lithic scatters were observed. The types of sites recorded, in order of those most frequently found to less frequently found are: campsites, isolated markers, rock alignments, cache sites, isolated artifact finds, and undetermined. Other features within these sites, such as hearths, hunting blinds, and meat-drying areas were also recorded. Komatik parts were found at several previously unrecorded sites this year, but apart from these remnants, few artifacts were observed.

As observed in previous surveys, most sites appear to be temporary camps, representing a stay of perhaps a few nights, and some were larger camps that may have been occupied seasonally over many generations.

Cathy Cockney (Cultural Resource Management Officer, Parks Canada, Inuvik) managed the project, and Norman Kudlak Jr. (from Paulatuuq) and Myrna Pokiak (Parks Canada, Inuvik) assisted in all aspects of the fieldwork. Archaeological direction was provided by Stephen Savauge, with assistance by Barry Greco (Parks Canada, Winnipeg). Park wardens Angus Simpson and Michelle Theberge provided vital logistic support and advice, and safely paddled all the crew’s gear for over two weeks on the Hornaday River.