The Thelon River stretches 900 kilometres (559.2 mi) across northern Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Its source is Whitefish Lake in the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

, and it flows east to Baker Lake in Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

. The Thelon ultimately drains into Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...

 at Chesterfield Inlet

Chesterfield Inlet

Chesterfield Inlet is an inlet in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is an arm of northwestern Hudson Bay, and the end point of the Thelon River after its passage through Baker Lake. Cross Bay, a large widening of the inlet, occurs east of Baker Lake...

.

Geography

The drainage basin of the Thelon River encompasses some 142400 square kilometres (54,980.9 sq mi). Located far from almost all human development, the Thelon and its surroundings are entirely pristine wilderness.

The river has a width of up to a kilometer (0.6 mi) along much of its lower section, widening into Beverly

Beverly Lake (Nunavut)

Beverly Lake is a lake in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located north of the Arctic tree line about northwest of Baker Lake, Nunavut. The western half of the lake is within Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary. The Thelon River, at the confluence with the Dubawnt River, empties into the lake's...

, Aberdeen, and Schultz Lakes about 100 km (62.1 mi) upstream from its mouth at Baker Lake.

Fauna

Approximately 100 moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

 and more than 2,000 muskoxen forage on the land around the Thelon. 300,000 migrating barren-ground caribou

Barren-ground Caribou

Barren-ground Caribou is a subspecies of the caribou that is found mainly in the Canadian territories Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and western Greenland. It sometimes includes the similar porcupine caribou, in which case the barren-ground caribou also is found in Alaska...

 cross the river every fall and spring.

History

The Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

 people, including Caribou Inuit

Caribou Inuit

Caribou Inuit, Barren-ground Caribou hunters, are bands of inland Inuit who lived west of Hudson Bay in northern Canada's Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories, now the Kivalliq Region of present-day Nunavut between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W...

 and Copper Inuit

Copper Inuit

Copper Inuit are a Canadian Inuit group who live north of the tree line, in Nunavut's Kitikmeot Region and the Northwest Territories's Inuvik Region. Most historically lived in the area around Coronation Gulf, on Victoria Island, and southern Banks Island.Their western boundary was Wise Point,...

, have long occupied the sparsely-populated lands around the Thelon. Artifacts of Inuit hunting and travel (including inukshuk

Inukshuk

An inuksuk is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland...

 guide stones) are readily observed near the river.

In 1770-71, English explorer Samuel Hearne

Samuel Hearne

Samuel Hearne was a an English explorer, fur-trader, author, and naturalist. He was the first European to make an overland excursion across northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean, actually Coronation Gulf, via the Coppermine River...

 crossed the Thelon while exploring Canada's northern interior.

Over the winter of 1926-27, Canadian naturalist John Hornby

John Hornby

John Hornby was an English explorer best known for his expeditions in the Arctic region, notably in the "barren lands" in the Northwest Territory of Canada...

 starved to death on the Thelon along with two other men. They had planned to hunt migrating caribou

Reindeer

The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

, but failed to find the herd. Nevertheless, on the basis of Hornby's earlier explorations with James Critchell-Bullock in 1923, the Thelon Game Sanctuary was established in 1927, renamed the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary

Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary

The Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, at , over twice the area of Belgium, is the largest wildlife refuge in Canada. It is located in northern Canada's Arctic region, north of the tree line, straddling the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, halfway between Baker Lake and Yellowknife, and bordered on the...

 in 1956.

In 1927(?), the Norwegian explorer and writer Helge Ingstad

Helge Ingstad

Helge Marcus Ingstad was a Norwegian explorer. After mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine, an archaeologist, in 1960 found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in the Province of Newfoundland in Canada...

 went by dog sled

Dog sled

A dog sled is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing.-History:...

 to the headwaters of Thelon (Lynx Lake) together with native peoples from east end of Great Slave Lake

Great Slave Lake

Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada , the deepest lake in North America at , and the ninth-largest lake in the world. It is long and wide. It covers an area of in the southern part of the territory. Its given volume ranges from to and up to ...

. Read more in his book "The Land of Feast and Famine".

Tourism

In 1990, the lower 545 km (338.6 mi) of the Thelon were designated a Canadian Heritage River

Canadian Heritage Rivers System

The Canadian Heritage Rivers System was established in 1984 by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canada's river heritage, to give them national recognition, and to encourage the public to enjoy and appreciate them. It is a cooperative...

. Although there is no road access to the river, a number of wilderness campers and canoeists visit the Thelon every summer.

See also

• List of longest rivers of Canada
• List of rivers of the Northwest Territories
• List of rivers of Nunavut

External links

• The Thelon River from the Canadian Heritage Rivers System
• Map of the Thelon River