Nunavik 2016 dog sled race to follow Ungava coast

Puvirnituq mushers Novalinga Novalinga and partner Juani Uqaituq are pictured here along the 2015 Ivakkak route. The team finished first in their year’s race. (PHOTO BY PIERRE DUNNIGAN/IVAKKAK)

Ivakkak 2016, the 15th edition of Nunavik’s dog sled race, will start March 31 from the Ungava Bay community of Quaqtaq, Makivik Corp. announced Feb. 29.

This year’s route will head south along the Ungava coast, stopping in the communities of Kangirsuk, Tasiujaq and Aupaluk, before heading to the finish line in Kuujjuaq.

The race is expected to last about 13 days, depending on the weather, Makivik said.

“Dog team ownership has been an important aspect of the Inuit way of life passed down from our ancestors, said Andy Moorhouse, Makivik’s new vice president of economic development.

“And thanks to Ivakkak, it has been revitalized.”

To participate in this year’s Ivakkak, dog mushers and their teams must register to enter the race by March 11.

Organizers expect that 15 teams will take part in this year’s race. As in years past, a veterinarian and support crew will follow their teams to ensure their health and safety.

The 2015 Ivakkak race featured a major hometown celebration for the winning dog mushers; Puvirnituq musher Novalinga Novalinga and his partner Juani Uqaittuq crossed the finish line in their hometown in first place.

They were followed by fellow Puvirnitumiut mushers Peter Ittukallak and Juai Nutaraaluk in second place, and then Aisa Surusilak and Richard Surusilak in third.

The first Ivakkak was launched by Makivik in 2001 to help encourage Nunavimmiut to carry on with their dog sledding tradition, a practice that was nearly lost following the killing of Inuit dogs in the 1950s and 1960s.