Rankin Inlet Outfitters

Traditional Economy in and around Rankin Inlet

Inuit people have been feeding themselves and their families for centuries with locally available foodstuffs. The traditional methods for gathering and hunting for food have changed with the availablity of new technology, but some things just work best the old way.

Berry picking is very popular and was traditionally a very important source of nutrition. Today you can still pick berries near Rankin Inlet and enjoy:

• Blueberries
• Lingonberries (or mountain cranberries)
• Bearberries (black or red)
• Crowberries
• Cloudberries (also called aqpik... they're like yellowish raspberries)
  

Inukshuk in Rankin Inlet

Hunting and Fishing

Hunting and fishing are both very important to the modern Inuit. In the Spring and Fall, people hunt for caribou and geese near the mouth of the Iqalugaarjuuk or Meliadine River.

Ice fishing is also widely practiced and many of Rankin Inlet's residents have hunting and fishing cabins near the settlement where they can go year 'round to hunt or fish. Near the floe edge, where the water of Hudson's Bay does not freeze even in the coldest part of winter, Inuit hunters wait for seal and whales. They travel in sleds or snowmobiles and sometimes bring along small boats to harvest the sea's bounty.

Rankin Inlet, Winter Landscape