Sites & cities that bear the name of Kinngait

Kinngait

Today in : Canada
First trace of activity : ca. 10th century B.C.E
Last trace of activity : today
Recorded names : Sikusiilaq, ᑭᙵᐃᑦ, Cape Dorset

Description : Kinngait (Inuktitut meaning "high mountain" or "where the hills are"; Syllabics: ᑭᙵᐃᑦ), formerly known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Kinngait, previously, Sikusiilaq,is where the remains of the Thule (Early Inuit) and pre-Inuit Dorset people (Tuniit) were discovered, who lived between 1000 BC and 1100 AD. The European name of Cape Dorset was given by Captain Luke Fox after Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset, on September 24, 1631. The Inuit originally called the inlet Sikusiilaq, after the area of sea ocean nearby that remains ice-free all winter. Hudson's Bay Company set up a trading post here in 1913, where they traded furs and skins for supplies such as tobacco, ammunition, flour, gas, tea and sugar. In December 2019, the residents of Cape Dorset voted in favour of a request to officially rename the hamlet to its Inuktitut name of Kinngait. Voters chose between Kinngait, Sikusilaq, and the English name of Cape Dorset.

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