Kekerten

Kekerten

Kekerten Island is an uninhabited island in Nunavut, in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Canada. This is the southernmost island of the Kikastan Islands in Cumberland Sound. The island is home to the Kekerten Territorial Park. In 1840, a whaling station was established on the current site of the park, and the Cumberland Sound area became a major whaling ground. The British and American whalers used the knowledge of local Inuit to hunt whales. The remains of storehouses can still be seen in the area, as well as the remains of a whaling ship and a burial ground. The whaling station was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1985, as it was one of the most important and longest-standing whaling stations and ship stops in the Arctic during the second half of the 19th century in Cumberland Sound. The station illustrates the impact of whaling on the economy and culture of the Inuit people of Cumberland Sound. Kekerten was vacated around 1923, after whaling and Inuit activity at the station declined, and they moved to the outpost established by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at nearby Pangnirtung.