Kivitoo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kivitoo
Abandoned settlement
Kivitoo Location in Nunavut
Country	Canada
Territory	Nunavut
Region	Qikiqtaaluk Region
Highest elevation	313 m (1,027 ft)
Population  (2006)
• Total	0
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)

Kivitoo was once a small Inuit community and a place where people hunted whales. It was located on the northeast coast of Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. The families living in Kivitoo moved to Qikiqtarjuaq in the 1950s. Qikiqtarjuaq is about 31 miles (50 km) south of where Kivitoo used to be. Today, Kivitoo is an abandoned settlement.

History of Kivitoo

Early Whaling Post

In the early 1900s, a company called the Sabellum Trading Company set up a whaling post at Kivitoo. This post was a stop for whalers who were hunting in the Arctic waters. It helped them with supplies and other needs. However, the whaling post was closed down in 1926.

Distant Early Warning Line Site

Kivitoo later became a site for the Distant Early Warning Line, often called the DEW Line. This was a chain of radar stations built across the Arctic during the Cold War. Their purpose was to detect if any planes were coming over the North Pole. Kivitoo's code name was FOX-D.

Around the time it became a DEW Line site, a short airstrip was built nearby. Today, Kivitoo is part of the North Warning System, which is a modern version of the DEW Line.

Relocation of Residents

In the 1950s, the Canadian government decided to move the people living in Kivitoo. They were moved to Qikiqtarjuaq. This move was for their safety. There had been some tragic accidents where the ice broke under people's igloos.

The people never returned to Kivitoo. Most of the buildings in the settlement were torn down by the government.

Kivitoo in Film

The story of Kivitoo was told in a documentary film. It was made by Zacharias Kunuk, an Inuit filmmaker. The film is called Kivitoo: What They Thought of Us.