Port Burwell, Nunavut

Port Burwell is a harbour on western Killiniq Island, formed as an arm of Ungava Bay, at the mouth of Hudson Strait.^[1][2] Previously within Labrador,^[3] and then the Northwest Territories,^[4] it is now situated within the borders of Nunavut, Canada. Cape Chidley is 25 miles (40 km) to the northeast. The community of Port Burwell lies on the shore at 60°25′30″N 64°50′00″W^[5].

Transporting supplies to the HBC post at Port Burwell, 1919

History

Going ashore at Port Burwell, July 1923

A Dominion Government Meteorological Station was established at Port Burwell during an 1884 voyage led by Commander Andrew R. Gordon, R.N., a retired Naval Officer, and assistant director of the Dominion Meteorological Service.^[6] Gordon named it in honor of one of the expedition's meteorological observers, Herbert M. Burwell of London, Ontario.^[7] Burwell was left in charge of Observing Station No. 1 in the port's harbour on the western side of Gray Strait until it closed in 1886.

Gordon returned to Port Burwell with a Hudson's Bay Company expedition in 1885 on the Alert,^[8] and established an HBC trading post within the harbour.^[9] In 1904, Moravian missionaries established a mission and trading post at the northwest corner of the harbour.^[10] Twelve years later, the HBC moved one of their trading posts to the northeast area of the harbour.^[10]

In the 1920s, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment was set up at Port Burwell. The Royal Corps of Signals (RCCS) built a radio station, and the Coast Guard built a base.^[11]

The settlement of Killiniq grew around the port. In 1978, all the residents were re-settled from the deep port community^[12] to host communities of Nunavik.