Ukkusiksalik, << `OO` koo SIHK sah lihk, >> National Park is a protected wilderness area in Nunavut, Canada. The park consists of 5,160,800 acres (2,088,500 hectares) of land around Wager Bay, an inlet of Hudson Bay. It lies just south of the Arctic Circle and the community of Repulse Bay. The name Ukkusiksalik refers to the soapstone found within the park. The government of Canada established Ukkusiksalik in 2003.
The park has a nearly treeless tundra landscape. Numerous lakes and rivers occur throughout the park. Low-growing plants—including dwarf birches, willows, Labrador tea plants, blueberry bushes, and wildflowers—cover much of the land. Some trees grow in the river valleys. The climate is cold, dry, and extremely windy.
Arctic wolves, caribou, grizzly bears, musk oxen, and seals are some of the mammals that live in the park and nearby waters. Polar bears gather along the shore during the summer. Bald and golden eagles, geese, gyrfalcons, peregrine falcons, rough-legged hawks, and tundra swans are among the birds found in Ukkusiksalik.
Native Inuit people inhabited the area of the park from about A.D. 1000 until the 1960’s. From 1925 to 1947, the Hudson’s Bay Company had a trading post in the region. Hundreds of archaeological sites have been discovered within the park’s boundaries. Today, Inuit hunt in the park, but the park has no permanent human residents.
Visitors can reach Ukkusiksalik National Park by airplane. The park has numerous areas for hiking and wildlife viewing. At the reversing waterfall at Wager Bay, high, forceful tides push against the falling water, creating turbulence and the illusion that the water is flowing backward. Officials recommend that visitors to the park hire a professional guide.
