Sirmilik National Park

July, 2023

Sirmilik National Park, meaning “the place of glaciers” in Inuktitut, is a national park located in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. Situated within the Arctic Cordillera, the park is composed of three areas: most of Bylot Island with the exception for a few areas that are Inuit-owned lands, Oliver Sound, and Baffin Island’s Borden Peninsula. Much of the park is bordered by water.

Extensive archaeological exploration of the park area has indicated that the area has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. The earliest known are predecessors of the modern-day Inuit.

Sirmilik was first established as a bird sanctuary in 1965 and monitored by the Canadian Wildlife Service because of its seabird colonies. The area officially became a national park in 2001. Today, the area is inhabited by the Inuit who continue to hunt and fish as their ancestors did.