Explore Qun'ngilaat
"Reindeer Herders"

…the summer of 1940 … I decided to go live in the lowlands of the Delta, seven miles from the Village-of-the-Reindeer. ("I, Nuligak" p. 176)

In the early 1900s, wild caribou that were an important source of food for Inuvialuit became scarce. The federal government arranged for a herd of domestic reindeer to be brought across from Alaska, and encouraged Inuvialuit to become herders. A base for the new reindeer industry was built on the East Channel of the Mackenzie River. The government name for the base was Reindeer Station, but many Inuvialuit called it Qun'ngilaat.

At its peak, Reindeer Station was like a small town with houses , a school, workshops and warehouses. Reindeer Station was closed in the late 1960s when the base of the reindeer operations was moved to Inuvik.