Uvayuq

{{Short description|Mountain in Nunavut, Canada}} {{Redirect|Mount Pelly|other uses|Pelly Mountain (disambiguation){{!}}Pelly Mountain}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Uvayuq | other_name = {{ubl | |''Ovayok'' |''Mount Pelly'' }} | image = Mount Pelly 1998-06-28.jpg | image_caption = Uvayuq, north of Cambridge Bay (Victoria Island) | elevation = More than {{convert|200|m|abbr=on}} | map = Canada Nunavut | range_coordinates = | map_caption = | label_position = | location = [[Nunavut]], Canada | coordinates = {{coord|69|10|27|N|104|42|43|W|type:mountain_region:CA-NU_scale:100000|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref =<ref name=coord/> | topo = | type = [[Esker]] }}

'''Uvayuq''',<ref name=coord>{{cite cgndb|OECAL|Uvayuq}}</ref> formerly ''Ovayok''<ref>{{cite cgndb|OEABG|Ovayok}}</ref> or ''Mount Pelly'',<ref>{{cite cgndb|OAMRP|Mount Pelly}}</ref> is an [[esker]]<ref>[https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674nunavut_parks_seeks_nominations_for_ovayok_park_committee/ Nunavut parks, QIA seek nominations for parks committees]</ref> in the [[Kitikmeot Region]], [[Nunavut]]. It is located in [[northern Canada]] on [[Victoria Island (Canada)|Victoria Island]] within the [[Ovayok Territorial Park]].<ref name="nunpark"/> The hill, which is more than {{convert|200|m|abbr=on}} high, is located {{convert|15|km|abbr=on}} north east of the hamlet of [[Cambridge Bay]], Nunavut.<ref name="nunpark">{{cite web|url = https://nunavutparks.com/parks-special-places/ovayok-territorial-park/ |title=Ovayok Territorial Park |publisher = Nunavut Parks| access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref>

==History== The area around ''Uvayuq'' has long been used by [[Inuit]] for hunting and there are over 120 [[Archaeology|archaeological]] sites on the esker. These include ''pirujaq'' (storage cache), campsites and a grave. The oddest find was a stack of [[loon]] bones that had been "cut at every joint". This find, which the local elders indicated was something they had never seen and must have happened before their grandparents were alive, fitted in with an Inuit legend. The legend indicated that people in the area were starving and they were saved only when a skilled hunter killed a loon. To feed all the people the bones had to be broken at the joints so all could be fed.<ref name="ood"/>

==Modern history== The esker was given its English name by [[Thomas Simpson (explorer)|Thomas Simpson]] and [[Peter Warren Dease]] in 1839 to honour [[John Pelly|Sir John Henry Pelly]], governor of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]]. Simpson and Dease had travelled from [[Great Bear Lake]], down the [[Coppermine River]], to [[Back River (Nunavut)|Back River]]. In 1850-51 [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]], while searching the south coast of Victoria Island for clues to the [[Franklin's lost expedition|lost expedition]] of [[John Franklin]], climbed to the top of Mount Pelly.<ref name="ood"/>

==Traditional belief== [[File:Inuuhuktu and Amaaqtuq.jpg|thumb|Inuuhuktu (Baby Pelly) and Amaaqtuq (Lady Pelly)]] Northwest of Uvayuq are two more eskers called Inuuhuktu (Baby Pelly) and Amaaqtuq (Lady Pelly). Inuit legend says that the three hills are a family of starving [[giant]]s. They were crossing Victoria Island looking for food and the father, Uvayuq, died first. Next the son, Inuuhuktu (English; "teenaged boy"<ref name=translate/>), died and was followed by the mother, Amaaqtuq (English; "packing baby",<ref name=translate>{{cite book|last1=Ohokak|first1=G.|last2=Kadlun|first2=M.|last3=Harnum|first3=B.|url=http://en.copian.ca/library/learning/nac/nac_dictionary/nac_dictionary.pdf|title=Inuinnaqtun-English Dictionary|publisher=Kitikmeot Heritage Society|archive-date=2021-12-22|access-date=2019-10-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222095215/http://en.copian.ca/library/learning/nac/nac_dictionary/nac_dictionary.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> see [[amauti]]), who was carrying her baby.<ref name="ood">{{cite book |editor= David F. Pelly & Kim Crockatt |others= Elsie Anaginak Klengenberg (illustrator) |title= Uvajuq The Origin of Death |year=1999 |publisher= Kitikmeot Heritage Society |isbn= 978-0-9690783-8-8 }}</ref>

==References== {{Commons category}} {{reflist}}

{{Mountains of Nunavut}}

[[Category:Mountains of the Kitikmeot Region]]