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earliest to raise alarms about melting permafrost and coastal erosion, both of which threaten infrastructure, homes, and traditional hunting grounds. As the sea rises and the ground thaws, the town ' s very existence is under threat, a reality made more poignant by the fact that Tuk is now, for many, a symbol of reaching the " top of the world."
Politically, Tuktoyaktuk is part of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, established under the Inuvialuit
Final Agreement of 1984, one of the first comprehensive land claim agreements in Canada. This landmark agreement granted the Inuvialuit ownership of thousands of square kilometres of land and control over how development occurs. It was a turning point in Indigenous selfgovernance and remains a model for other Indigenous land agreements across the country, and possibly the world.
Visitors who make the journey to Tuk often do so in the spirit of adventure. But what many find is something much deeper. There’ s a quiet dignity in the town, a sense of place that comes not from architecture or amenities but from the people, from the way they speak of the land, of their parents’ hunting grounds, of the sea ice that once stretched all the way to the horizon. Conversations here don’ t just pass the time; they carry knowledge, history, and pride.
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