Kugmallit Bay is a a bay located in Northwestern Territories of Canada, roughly 4000km away from Ottawa. Near the eastern border of Alaska, Kugmallit Bay is the end destination for the eastern brach of the largest river in the North American Arctic, the Mackenzie River. With an average yearly temperature of -8°C, the Kugmallit Bay is often covered by fast ice, or landfast ice. In August of 2010, part of Kugmallit Bay was portioned off as part of the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area. This area covers roughly 1800 square kilometers and protects areas of the Mackenzie River Delta as well as estuaries in the Beaufort Sea. Through collaborative efforts by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Inuvialuit people, private industry and shareholders, and the Canadian government the Tarium Niryutait MPA was created. The MPA is part of Canada’s expanding network of protected ocean areas, it also plays an important role in fulfilling Canada’s commitments to managing Canada’s oceans resources.

Citations

"Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area." Beaufort Sea Partnership. N.p., n.d. Web.

Knut Lang (1896-1964) was a Scandinavian man who settled in the Mackenzie Delta from the 1936-1964. He operated a trading post that serviced fur trappers (mostly muskrat), both Inuit and non-Inuit. He was well liked and known for his generosity, eventually becoming elected to the territorial council of the northwest territories from 1957-1964 (Gwich'in Social & Cultural Institute).

Knut is recognized as suggesting the name Inuvik for the town on the eastern edge of the delta. Inuvik later became administrative center of the region (Gwich'in Social & Cultural Institute) . In the 1950's and 1960's the Canadian government began to entertain the idea of indigenous government (Assembly.gov.nt.ca) . Knut saw the most direct path towards self governance of the northwest territory lay by dividing the northwest territory into an Inuit dominated eastern Arctic and western Arctic comprised of Inuvialuit, Métis, and Dene. This culminated in the creation of the nunavut territory in 1999 (Assembly.gov.nt.ca).

1. Gwich'in Social & Cultural Institute,. Nomination Form For Territorial Historic Sites:Knut Lang's Place. Fort McPherson, NWT: Gwich'in Social & Cultural Institute, 2007. Web. 7 Mar. 2017. (http://gwichin.ca/sites/default/files/gsci_benson_2007_nomination_form_knut_langs_place.pdf )

2."Creation Of A New Northwest Territories". Assembly.gov.nt.ca. N.p., 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2017. (http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/visitors/creation-new-nwt )