Tuktoyaktuk

The world is not flat, but the best places are where you can look over the edge.

Tuktoyaktuk is at the edge of the Arctic Ocean, and at the end of the road north, but only in winter when the famous ice road on the Mackenzie River is open from Inuvik. In summer it is 30 minutes by Twin Otter over thousands of tundra lakes. Tuk is the largest hamlet of the Inuvaluit people who have hunted and fished the rich Beaufort Sea coast here for a very long time. It has no restaurants, bars or hotels, but you can get chicken fingers and slushies at Stanton’s, an Inuvaluit coop store. We stayed at the house of the former leader of the Inuvaluits, who had negotiated the Final Agreement with Canada that gave the Inuvaluits control over the environment of their traditional lands. When the clouds clear, the sun never goes away in early June, and the sea ice will melt soon. Some bold hunters are still miles out on the ice bringing home Snow Geese.

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