The Significance of Aullaviat/Aunguniarvik

Caribou, muskox, grizzly bear, arctic char - these are some of the species that live on the Eastern Yukon North Slope: Aullaviat/Aunguniarvik in Inuvialuktun, where people and animals travel, a place to hunt. The area is part of an important conservation network across the northern Yukon. Aullaviat/Auguniarvik is connected to the west by Ivvavik National Park, Herschel Island-Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to the south by the Old Crow Flats Special Management Area and Vuntut National Park, and to the north by Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area. 

It is an ecologically important and culturally rich land and seascape. The community of Aklavik lies 60km to the east and has a significant connection to this place. Aklavik Inuvialuit travel through, gather with family and fill their freezers from Aullaviat/Aunguniarvik, as evidenced by the cabins, trails, and seasonal gathering spots across the landscape. This place, along with the rest of the Yukon North Slope, has supported Inuvialuit for generations. It's home to wildlife of all stripes and forms an essential part of the Porcupine caribou herd's annual migration. It's also an environment undergoing dramatic change as permafrost melts, new weather patterns emerge, and Arctic shipping increases.