The Inukshuk fronting Hudson Bay in Manitoba is a creation of the First Nations people that called the Arctic home long before Europeans arrived. The native equivalent of street signs, Inukshuks are made of carefully spaced stones that form human-like shapes. Remove one and the sculpture becomes unbalanced, a mirror to the First Nation’s view of family and life. Inukshuks are found throughout the Arctic since they are still used for communication. The one at Hudson Bay in Manitoba is better known and considered a local landmark.
The Hudson-James Lowlands in Wapusk National Park is a vast stretch of Arctic tundra, frozen solid in winter and a mix of bog and water in the warmer seasons. The lowlands front most of Hudson Bay’s southern shore from Quebec to Saskatchewan. Closer to the bay the land is treeless but travel inland and stubby trees start to dot the landscape. The frozen soil, called permafrost, never thaws out below the surface, keeping the trees short. This is polar bear country. The bears actually find the area a bit too warm in summer and build dens to crawl in and cool off. Caribou herds migrate through the lowlands during the summer. Birds gravitate to the area in the warmer season to gorge on the hordes of insects that blanket the tundra. That's great for the birds, not so much for the caribou or humans.
The Boreal Lake Plateau is on the eastern end of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec. It is a land of rivers and lakes that freeze over in winter and of treeless tundra interspersed with patches of stunted trees. It’s called the boreal forest, a name which would imply an abundance of trees but in this case the forest hugs the coast of Hudson Bay. As you head east you'll find flat tundra. Black spruce is the dominant tree species, though they are smaller than their southern cousins. Dwarf birch and willow trees are also found. The area is known for its string bogs, formed by sphagnum moss growing on peat and stretching across open water. The moss usually looks like cooked spaghetti or strands of white string, hence the name.
Churchill, Manitoba sits on the southern edge of Hudson Bay. You’ll have to hop on a plane, boat or train to get to Churchill as there are no roads. The Hudson’s Bay Company built the Prince of Wales Fort here in 1731. It remained a post for the fur trade until the fort was surrendered to the French in 1782. The remains of the fort are located at the Cape Merry National Historic Site, a favorite spot for bird and beluga whale watchers. The fort is being reconstructed by Parks Canada as part of an ongoing project. Tours of the fort are available from Parks Canada and various operators in Churchill. The biggest draw here, however, is the polar bears. Residents have learned to live with these beautiful but unpredictable carnivores. Bear watching season lasts from early October through the first part of November. In some ways the polar bears are landmarks in their own right, earning Churchill the title “Polar Bear Capital of the World.”
