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Kinngait

Cape Dorset
ᑭᙵᐃᑦ
Kinngait
Hamlet
Part of the village with characteristic Kinngait hill,May 1997
Part of the village with characteristic Kinngait hill,
May 1997
Nickname(s): Capital of Inuit Art
Cape Dorset is located in Nunavut
Cape Dorset
Cape Dorset
Cape Dorset is located in Canada
Cape Dorset
Cape Dorset
Coordinates: 64°13′54″N 076°32′25″W / 64.23167°N 76.54028°W / 64.23167; -76.54028Coordinates: 64°13′54″N 076°32′25″W / 64.23167°N 76.54028°W / 64.23167; -76.54028
Country Canada
Territory Nunavut
Region Qikiqtaaluk
Territorial Electoral district South Baffin
Federal Electoral district Nunavut
Hudson's Bay Company 1913
Government
 • Type Hamlet
 • Mayor Padlaya Qiatsuk
 • MLA David Joanasie
 • MP Leona Aglukkaq
 • Senator Dennis Patterson
Area
 • Total 9.74 km2 (3.76 sq mi)
Elevation 50 m (160 ft)
Highest elevation 243 m (797 ft)
Lowest elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Population (2016)
 • Total 1,441
 • Density 150/km2 (380/sq mi)
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code X0A 0C0
Area code(s) 867
Website www.capedorset.ca

Cape Dorset (Inuktitut: Kinngait (meaning "high mountain");Syllabics: ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Cape Dorset has one ham radio operator or shortwave enthusiast. There are 3 ham radio operators in the whole territory of Nunavut with two in Rankin Inlet.

Cape Dorset is where the remains of the Thule (Tuniit, Dorset Culture) were discovered, that lived between 1000B.C and 1100 A.D. Cape Dorset was named by Captain Luke Fox after Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset on September 24, 1631. The Inuit originally called the inlet Sikusiilaq before it was named Cape Dorset, after the area of sea ocean nearby that remains ice free all winter. Hudson's Bay Company started their trading post in 1913, where they traded furs and skins for supplies like tobacco, ammunition, flour, gas, tea and sugar. Since the 1950s, Cape Dorset, which calls itself the "Capital of Inuit Art" has been a centre for drawing, printmaking, and carving. Even today, printmaking and carving are the community's main economic activities. Each year, Kinngait Studios issues an annual print collection. Cape Dorset has been hailed as the most artistic community in Canada, with some 22% of the labour force employed in the arts.

In 1957, James Houston, European-Canadian created a graphic arts workshop in Cape Dorset. Houston collected drawings from community artists and encouraged local Inuit stone carvers to apply their skills to stone-block printing. The print program was modeled after Japanese ukiyo-e workshops. Other cooperative print shops were also established in nearby communities, but the Cape Dorset workshop has remained the most successful. They have experimented with etching, engraving, lithography, and silkscreen, and produce annual catalogs advertising the limited edition prints.


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