{{Short description|Island in the Northwest Territories, Canada}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox islands | name = Eight Bears Island | pushpin_map = Canada Northwest Territories#Canada | location = [[Northern Canada]] | coordinates = {{coord|77|6|2|N|113|22|10|W|type:isle_scale:100000|display=inline,title}} | archipelago = [[Queen Elizabeth Islands]] | area_km2 = 18.12 | country = Canada | country_admin_divisions_title = [[Territory]] | country_admin_divisions = [[Northwest Territories]] | population = Uninhabited | additional_info = '''Discovered:''' June 1915 by [[Vilhjalmur Stefansson]] }} '''Eight Bears Island''' is an uninhabited island in the [[Parry Islands]] sub-group of the [[Queen Elizabeth Islands]], [[Northwest Territories]], Canada. It lies roughly equidistant between [[Mackenzie King Island]] and [[Emerald Isle (Northwest Territories)|Emerald Isle]], immediately east of [[Fitzwilliam Owen Island]]. Its name comes from the explorer [[Edwin Willard Deming]] who's family was nicknamed 'The Eight Bears'.
==History== The island was discovered in June 1915 by [[Vilhjalmur Stefansson]] during the [[Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913–1916]].<ref name="Stef">{{cite book |last=Stefansson |first=V. |title=The Friendly Arctic |year=1921 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=332, 341}}</ref> It was named by the expedition's photographer, [[Hubert Wilkins]], in honor of the "Eight Bears": the American painter [[Edwin Willard Deming]] and his family. The Deming family had maintained correspondence with Wilkins during his earlier travels, continuing to send letters even when he was presumed dead.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://greenbaypressgazette.newspapers.com/image/187408133/ |title=E.W. Deming, Noted Painter and Explorer, Has Had a Varied and Exciting Career |date=1934-08-27 |newspaper=Green Bay Press-Gazette |location=Green Bay, Wisconsin |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
The island is scientifically obscure; the last documented survey was by geologist J.G. Fyles of the [[Geological Survey of Canada]] on July 18, 1964, who noted the presence of raised beaches and marine shells.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fyles |first=J.G. |year=1965 |title=Surficial Geology, Western Queen Elizabeth Islands |journal=GSC Paper |volume=65-1 |pages=3-5}}</ref>
==Geography== Located at 77°N, the island remains ice-bound for the majority of the year. It is situated approximately {{convert|300|km|nmi}} north of the [[Parry Channel]], well removed from the primary routes of the [[Northwest Passage]].
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140407083441/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/toporama?center=-451190.2489697,3134018.5293636&zoom=7 Eight Bears Island] at [[Atlas of Canada]]
{{Queen Elizabeth Islands}}
[[Category:Islands of the Queen Elizabeth Islands]] [[Category:Uninhabited islands of the Northwest Territories]]