Arviq

Arviq is a large site on the south coast of Banks Island, approximately 30 km east of Ikaahuk (Sachs Harbour). Remains of igluryuit (large winter houses of sod, whale bone and driftwood) and qarmat (more lightly built dwellings often used in the fall). These houses were built and lived in by our Early (Thule) Inuit ancestors between 1450 and 1650 AD, the period in which they were becoming Inuvialuit. These ancestors seem to have had close ties to Victoria Island. They may have moved seasonally between the qarmat and igluryuit at the site, travelling farther afield at other times. They hunted seals and caribou. The many Arctic fox bones show that foxes were very important to our ancestors on Banks Island 500 years ago, just as they were in the first part of the 20th century when many of the families who live in Ikaahuk today settled on Banks Island to trap white fox.