NiJp-11 Boothia Escarpment Village
The Boothia Escarpemtn Village is a Thule and Traditional Inuit site that is situated in a pass in the Boothia Escarpment. Today's Inuit are the direct decedents of the Thule Culture who originated in Alaska and migrated as far east as Greenland following the Bowhead whales. They lived in the arctic from 1100 BP-400BP.
This site has been reported as one fo the bestcrossing places for caribou. One cache observed here contains a whole, mummified, caribou. Food caches from the summers helped the Thule and Inuit people to survuve the long winters.
Kayaks
About May during winter just when it is starting to warm up, the caribou at this time used to come this way from iluilik and Kugaruk area, they would come from Kukruk area and pass that area. The caribou would come this way to have the calf. And there they would have their babies
Caribou would come and go back the same way as they came and Netsilik is their road to get where they want to go. They used to cross the river, which is where we were yesterday. You know those rocks that we saw; those are the ones Inuit used to use when they hunted caribou. When the caribou went in the water and were in the middle of the river that is when the Inuit would go in with their kayak and catch as many caribou as they could. That is how I’ve
Kayaks
In the old days we had very hard times. There wasn’t much caribou around, hardly any caribou at all. It was very difficult to find caribou in the old days. I myself is not a very old person, I am not that old yet.
There once was a kayak, the kayak was made out of skin. My father had made a kayak. I used to go in one. I was put in a kayak, I tell you I was put right into the kayak, I had to lay down flat on my tummy, and my dad was going to paddle. I was put right into the kayak. My tummy was flat on the kayak inside, I can feel the water. I can see the water and it was very loud. So that is how it feels like to be inside the kayak. It was not a wooden kayak, the kayak was made out of skin. Although I am not a very old person I have been in a kayak.
Site Field Notes
This site was recorded by James Savelle in 1982 and revisited in 2004. It is an extensive site, which covers almost 200 x 300 m, situated in a pass in the Boothia Escarpment at an elevation of 50 to 70 m a.s.l. Savelle reports at least 60 tent rings and 40 meat caches.
In Rasmussen’s 1931 report, Qaqortingneq calls this area ‘Kitinusak’ and states that it was one of the best crossing places for caribou. Although there are some tent rings on the floor of the pass, against the rocks at the western edge, most of the features are in the boulder fields and on bedrock exposures on a terrace above the valley pass. One cache observed here contained a whole, mummified, caribou. The features represent successive occupations.
Site Description
Historic Association: unknown
Representativeness: Thule; traditional
Inuit
Type/Function: tent rings and caches
Rarity: rare because of size
Integrity: good
Preservation: no bone observed on surface
Artifact and feature density: very high
Human Remains and Burials: none observed
exposure on a terrace above the valley pass. One cache observed here contained
a whole, mummified, caribou. The features represent successive occupations.