Arviat is a little Canadian town on the western coast of Hudson Bay in the Northwest Territories. Arviat is a community of approximately 1800 people, the majority being Inuit who speak Inuktitut as their first language.
The people, their traditions and strong family ties make Arviat a very special place to visit. Unlike other communities in the region, Arviatmiuts are working to preserve their language and traditions such as throat singing, drum dancing, Inuit games, carving, doll-making, sewing, and dog mushing. The name "Arviat" comes from the Inuktitut word for "Bow-head Whale" because of its shape.
Most of the men in town hunt to make a living, while the majority of women stay home with the kids. Some women sew wall-hangings, mitts, and kamiks to make money.
Locals organize annual events like the Music Festival, Fishing derby, and the Dog-mushing competition. Family get-togethers, Church activities and visiting friends are also popular. People enjoy eating traditional foods such as raw frozen caribou meat, seal, fish, rabbit, ptarmigan, polar bear, walrus, musk ox, and beluga whale (muktaaq). In the summer, egg-picking and berry-picking is very popular. Cloud berries, blackberries and cranberries are abundant in Arviat.