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Nunavik is Quebec, Canada's arctic region; 560,000 square kilometers of wild tundra, taiga forest, scenic mountains,
majestic rivers and countless lakes. Its inhabitants are the Inuit, the Naskapi and the Cree.
Unlike many of the province's other regions, Nunavik can not be accessed by road, or even by railway. The region's
14 villages are all isolated one from another sometimes by more than 150 km. Air transportation is fundamental to keeping
the region and its communities connected. Day in and day out, passengers and cargo are moved through Nunavik's skies.
Marine transportation is also an essential service for the region's residents. During the few months of open water,
ships visit each Nunavik community delivering a wide variety of needed supplies, from fuel to building materials and non-perishable
food.
The largest herds of caribou ever recorded - close to a million head - roam the taiga and tundra of Nunavik. Their
annual autumn migration is a natural spectacle that is unmatched anywhere else in the world, and provides excellent hunting
and photography opportunities alike. Walruses, seals and the majestic polar bear are just a few of the lands many wild
inhabitants.
In summer, night never falls over the tundra. Though the sun will dip just below the horizon in the north, its
light never fails. In winter, though the sun rises for only a few brief hours, its rays make the snow-covered landscape
sparkle brilliantly. The long, cold nights also regularly offer Northerners a unique display. Throughout the star-filled
sky, green, pink and purple Northern lights weave and spin.
It is this land that ispires Inuit art. A piece of art, whether it be a carving, doll, drawing, wallhanging,
or jewelry holds an essence of the land and all things connected to it. It reveals the strong connection the Inuit have
with the land and animals. It is not the land that belongs to the people, but the people belonging to the land.
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