Quaqtaq is located on the eastern shore of Diana Bay, near the Ungava Bay. The population of Quaqtaq is 453 and it is 2100 km north of Montreal.Quaqtaq means "tapeworm" in Inuktitut. According to lore, a hunter in the area in the 1930s found parasites in his feces and since then the region has been called Quaqtaq (or Koartak).
The first trading post was built by an independent trader southwest of Quaqtaq in 1927. Between 1931 and 1939, trading posts were built and passed on from Révillon Frères to the Hudson's Bay Company to the Baffin Trading Company. A Catholic mission was established in 1947. Although Inuit families began settling into the community after the Catholic mission was established, the federal government did not start providing basic health care until a fatal measles epidemic shot through Quaqtaq in 1952.
The Koartak Cooperative Association was founded in 1973 and joined the Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec in 1982.
The Art
Quaqtaq does not have many sculptors, but they do have many talented traditional Inuit clothing makers.
Notable artists (past and present) include:
- Beatrice Deer (1985-)
- Kilopak Inukpuk
- Annie Okpik