# Coats Island

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coats_Island
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coats_Island.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coats_Island
> Source revision: 1343849336
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Island in Nunavut, Canada

Coats Island Native name: ᐊᑉᐸᑑᕐᔪᐊᖅ Appatuurjuaq Coats Island Show map of Nunavut Coats Island Show map of Canada Geography Location Hudson Bay Coordinates 62°30′N 083°00′W / 62.500°N 83.000°W / 62.500; -83.000 (Coats Island)[1] Area 5,498 km2 (2,123 sq mi) Highest point 185 m (607 ft) Administration Canada Nunavut Nunavut Region Kivalliq Demographics Population Uninhabited

**Coats Island** ([Inuktitut](/source/Inuktitut_language): ᐊᑉᐸᑑᕐᔪᐊᖅ, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Inuktitut): *Appatuurjuaq*)[2] lies at the northern end of [Hudson Bay](/source/Hudson_Bay) in the [Kivalliq Region](/source/Kivalliq_Region) of [Nunavut](/source/Nunavut). At 5,498 km2 (2,123 sq mi) in size, it is the [107th largest island in the world](/source/List_of_islands_by_area), and [Canada's 24th largest island](/source/List_of_Canadian_islands_by_area).

The island has areas of federal [crown land](/source/Crown_land) and areas of private land owned by [Inuit](/source/Inuit), however, the last permanent residents left in the 1970s.[3] With no permanent settlements, the island is also the largest uninhabited island in the northern hemisphere fully south of the [Arctic Circle](/source/Arctic_Circle). It was the last home of the [Sadlermiut](/source/Sadlermiut) people who are widely believed to represent the [Dorset culture](/source/Dorset_culture).

## Geography

Satellite image of Coats Island, 2019

Coats Island is 130 km (81 mi) long. It reaches a maximum elevation of 185 m (607 ft) above sea level. This high point occurs along the rocky northern perimeter between [Cape Pembroke](/source/Cape_Pembroke_(Nunavut)) and Cape Prefontaine. The underlying rocks in this area are Precambrian metamorphics. Less than 5 per cent of the island is more than 100 m (330 ft) above sea level. The southern half of the island is primarily low-lying [muskeg](/source/Muskeg) and made up of [Paleozoic](/source/Paleozoic) sedimentary rocks, such as limestone and sandstone.

## Fauna

Since 1920, Coats Island has been designated a [caribou](/source/Reindeer) reserve. After caribou were extirpated from nearby [Southampton Island](/source/Southampton_Island), the Coats herd was used to re-establish the Southampton herd. It is also known for its population of [thick-billed murre](/source/Thick-billed_murre). Two colonies of 30,000 birds occur along the cliffs at the rocky northern end. There are also significant concentrations of [walrus](/source/Walrus) at walrus haulouts at the base of cliffs or on offshore islands at the northern end of the island (one each at [Cape Pembroke](/source/Cape_Pembroke_(Nunavut)) and [Cape Prefontaine](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cape_Prefontaine&action=edit&redlink=1)). These are visited regularly by Inuit from the hamlet at [Coral Harbour](/source/Coral_Harbour), on Southampton Island, for harvesting.

Cape Pembroke is an [Important Bird Area](/source/Important_Bird_Area).[4]

## History

The first recorded sighting of Coats Island by Europeans was in 1612 by [Thomas Button](/source/Thomas_Button); he explored it further the following year.[5] It received its name from William Coats, a sea captain for the [Hudson's Bay Company](/source/Hudson's_Bay_Company). He visited the area periodically between 1727 and 1751.

In 1824, [HMS *Griper*](/source/HMS_Griper_(1813)), under Captain [George Francis Lyon](/source/George_Francis_Lyon), anchored off [Cape Pembroke](/source/Cape_Pembroke_(Nunavut)) on Coats Island. The [whalers](/source/Whaling) then discovered a band of "[Eskimos](/source/Eskimo)" who were said to have spoken a "strange dialect" and were called *[Sadlermiut](/source/Sadlermiut)*.[6] Since then, the Sadlermiut continued to establish contact with Westerners. However, as with many North American [Indigenous peoples](/source/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas), the Sadlermiut were often susceptible to Western diseases.

The area was confirmed to be an island by American whalers, who began visiting the area in the 1860s. By 1896, there were only 70 of Sadlermiut remaining. Then, in the fall of 1902, the British trading and whaling[7] vessel named the *Active* had made a stop at Cape Low,[8] Southampton Island. It is said that some of the Sadlermiut caught a disease, possibly [influenza](/source/Influenza),[9] [typhoid](/source/Typhoid_fever) or [typhus](/source/Typhus), from a sick sailor aboard the *Active*, which then spread to the entire community.[6][10] By winter 1902–03, the entire Sadlermiut population had died as a result.[7][11]

A [trading post](/source/Trading_post) operated by the [Hudson's Bay Company](/source/Hudson's_Bay_Company) was opened on the island in September 1918, supplied from [Lake Harbour](/source/Kimmirut) and [Wolstenholme](/source/Cape_Wolstenholme).[12] A number of [Inuit](/source/Inuit) families lived on the island during that period, some of whom had been brought from [Baffin Island](/source/Baffin_Island) on boats.

In 1921, an overturned fisherman's [dory](/source/Dory_(boat)) covering two skeletons was found by Captain George Cleveland on Coats Island which were alleged to be the remains of Captain Arthur Gibbons and one of his officers, survivors of the wreck of the American whaling schooner *[A. T. Gifford](/source/A._T._Gifford)*.[13] The Canadian Government held a criminal investigation.[14]

In 1925, the island was over-hunted and the HBC post closed, after which the remaining Inuit were relocated to [Southampton Island](/source/Southampton_Island).[12]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Coats Island"](https://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/search-place-names/unique?id=OADOY). *[Geographical Names Data Base](/source/GeoBase_(geospatial_data)#Geographical_Names_Data_Base)*. [Natural Resources Canada](/source/Natural_Resources_Canada). Retrieved May 21, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [INUIT HERITAGE TRUST. Place Names Program. Coral Harbour Traditional Place Names](https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1Eyxtb4zFHDyZCPIySi00Mx1b4Y8&ll=64.12058201224147%2C-83.71142055000003&z=7)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-iba_3-0)** ["Coats Island"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110612101722/http://www.bsc-eoc.org/iba/site.jsp?siteID=NU005). bsc-eoc.org. Archived from [the original](http://www.bsc-eoc.org/iba/site.jsp?siteID=NU005) on June 12, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["IBA Site Listing: Coats Island/Cape Pembroke"](https://www.ibacanada.org/site.jsp?siteID=NU005). *www.ibacanada.org*. IBA Canada. Retrieved November 17, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Christy_5-0)** Christy, Miller (1894). [*The voyages of Captain Luke Foxe of Hull, and Captain Thomas James of Bristol, in search of a northwest passage, in 1631-32; with narratives of the earlier northwest voyages of Frobisher, Davis, Weymouth, Hall, Knight, Hudson, Button, Gibbons, Bylot, Baffin, Hawkridge, and others*](https://archive.org/details/voyagescaptainl01wattgoog). London: Hakluyt Society. related:STANFORD36105004846502.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Nunatsiaq_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Nunatsiaq_6-1) ["In the bones of the world (Part eight)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050328183720/http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/nunavut020705/news/editorial/columns.html#nunani_july26). *Nortext Publishing Corporation (Iqaluit)*. Nunatsiaq News. July 26, 2002. Archived from [the original](http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/nunavut020705/news/editorial/columns.html#nunani_july26) on March 28, 2005. Retrieved March 28, 2005.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-LAC_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-LAC_7-1) ["Aboriginal 7 - Life in Canada"](http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/art/050602/0506020222_e.html). [Library and Archives Canada](/source/Library_and_Archives_Canada). Retrieved March 21, 2008.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Collins_8-0)** Collins, Henry B. (1956). *Vanished Mystery Men of Hudson Bay*. Vol. CX No. 5. National Geographic Magazine. p. 674.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Rooms_9-0)** Renouf, M.A.P. (Fall 1991). ["Museum Notes - Palaeoeskimo in Newfoundland & Labrador"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080430095710/http://www.therooms.ca/museum/mnotes5.asp). The Rooms. Archived from [the original](http://www.therooms.ca/museum/mnotes5.asp) on April 30, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-arrive_10-0)** ["The People Arrive"](http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+People+Arrive.(history+of+the+Inuit)-a057040631). [The Free Library](/source/The_Free_Library). March 1, 1999. Retrieved March 22, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-TCE_11-0)** Briggs, Jean L.; J. Garth Taylor. ["The Canadian Encyclopedia: Sadlermiut Inuit"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081020052907/http://www.encyclopediecanadienne.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007041). Historica Foundation of Canada. Archived from [the original](http://www.encyclopediecanadienne.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007041) on October 20, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2008.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-HBC_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-HBC_12-1) ["Hudson's Bay Company: Coats Island"](https://pam.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/PAM_AUTHORITY/AUTH_DESC_DET_REP/SISN%201544?sessionsearch). *pam.minisisinc.com*. Archives of Manitoba - Keystone Archives Descriptive Database. Retrieved November 17, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Boston Daily Globe, September 21, 1923, p.7.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** [Description Full Display](http://mikan3.archives.ca/pam/public_mikan/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=880887&rec_nbr_list=880887)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] - Search Archives - Library and Archives Canada

## External links

Media related to [Coats Island](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Coats_Island) at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Islands of the Kivalliq Region Islands of Chesterfield Inlet Akreavenek Apqusiurniq Boulder Camp Cove Centre Deer Hanbury Illusive Iripajuk Moor North Imilit North Midway Patch Pintail Ragged Reference Rockhouse South Imilit South Midway Wag Islands of Foxe Basin Ascension Nagjuttuuq Qikiqtaaluk (Foxe Basin) Southampton Islands of Hudson Bay Aiqqujat Airartuuq Austin Bibby Broken Coats Dunne Foxe East Pen Flattop Imiligaarjuk Imilijjuaq Irik Ivuniraarjuq Kayak Marble Maittuq Pitsiulartok Promise Sentry Southampton Walrus (Fisher Strait) Walrus (Hudson Bay) Islands in italics are inhabited. See also Islands of the Kitikmeot Region, Islands of the Qikiqtaaluk Region

v t e Subdivisions of Nunavut Regions Kitikmeot (Unorganized) Kivalliq (Unorganized) Qikiqtaaluk (Unorganized) Electoral districts Federal Nunavut Territorial Aggu Aivilik Amittuq Arviat North-Whale Cove Arviat South Baker Lake Cambridge Bay Gjoa Haven Hudson Bay Iqaluit-Manirajak Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu Iqaluit-Sinaa Iqaluit-Tasiluk Kugluktuk Netsilik Pangnirtung Quttiktuq Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet Rankin Inlet South South Baffin Tununiq Uqqummiut Communities Arctic Bay Arviat Baker Lake Bathurst Inlet Cambridge Bay Chesterfield Inlet Clyde River Coral Harbour Gjoa Haven Grise Fiord Igloolik Iqaluit Apex Kimmirut Kinngait Kugaaruk Kugluktuk Naujaat Pangnirtung Pond Inlet Qikiqtarjuaq Rankin Inlet Resolute Sanikiluaq Sanirajak Taloyoak Whale Cove Weather stations and Canadian Armed Forces bases Alert CFS Alert Ennadai Eureka Isachsen Nanisivik Naval Facility Mine sites Operating Baffinland Iron Mine Doris North Meadowbank Gold Mine Defunct Bent Horn Mine Cullaton Lake/Shear Lake Mine Jericho Diamond Mine Lupin Mine Nanisivik Mine Polaris mine Rankin Inlet Mine DEW line and NWS sites Bernard Harbour Bray Island Brevoort Island Broughton Island Byron Bay Cambridge Bay Cape Dyer Cape Hooper Cape Mcloughlin Cape Mercy Cape Peel West Cape Young Clifton Point Clinton Point Croker River Dewar Lakes Durban Island Edinburgh Island Ekalugad Gjoa Haven Gladman Point Harding River Hat Island Kangok Fjord Keats Point Keith Bay Kivitoo Lady Franklin Point Lailor River Loks Land Longstaff Bluff Mackar Inlet Matheson Point Nudluardjuk Lake Pelly Bay Qikiqtaryuaq Resolution Island Ross Point Rowley Island Sanirajak Scarpa Lake Shepherd Bay Simpson Lake Sturt Point Former Amadjuak Brooman Point Village Craig Harbour Dundas Harbour Iglunga Killiniq Nanisivik Native Point Nuwata Padlei Port Leopold Tavani Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Amadjuak Apex Arctic Bay Baker Lake Bathurst Inlet Bay Chimo Belcher Islands Blacklead Island Cambridge Bay Cape Dorset Charlton Island Depot Chesterfield Inlet Clyde River Coats Island Dundas Harbour Eskimo Point Fort Hearne Fort Ross Frobisher Bay Gjoa Haven Igloolik Kent Peninsula King William Island Kugaryuak Lake Harbour Mansel Island Nueltin House Padley Pangnirtung Pangnirtung Fox Farm Perry River Ponds Inlet Port Burwell Port Leopold Repulse Bay Southampton Island Tavane Tree River Wager Inlet

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Coats Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coats_Island) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coats_Island?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.