Engigstciak

Old Roland re-discovered this very ancient site with the archaeologist Scotty MacNeish in the 1950s. The name Engigstciak, meaning ‘new or youthful mountain’ in Uummarmiutun, describes the rocky hill that overlooks the terrace on which the site is located. The hill provides an excellent vantage point for spotting game. The site is positioned where the Qikiqtaruk Kungna (Firth River) canyon opens out into flat terraces – an important crossing place for migrating caribou and other game. It was inhabited for some 6,000 years by a sequence of cultural groups ending with our Early (Thule) Inuit ancestors.