A sled dog racer sits on a sled next to about ten dogs in a snowy landscape.
On the ground

On the trail of this year’s epic Nunavut Quest dogsled race

The annual competition — first held in 1999 to celebrate Nunavut's founding — honours and renews Inuit sled-dog traditions

Story and photos by Dustin Patar

June 10, 2026 5 min. read
This article was originally published on Indiginews.

One by one, snowmobiles pulling qamutiit — traditional wooden sleds — navigate their way through the snowy streets of Igloolik, Nvt.

There, on the ice of the nearby bay, nine teams of qimmiit (Inuit sled dogs) sit waiting amid the blowing snow.

It’s April 9 as the teams assemble at the start line for this year’s Nunavut Quest, the territory’s only major dogsled race.

But this year, bad weather has forced them to delay the teams’ start by two days.

Seen in profile, a person wearing winter sits on a sled being pulled by a snowmobile in the Arctic.
Leeland Panimera sits on a traditional Inuit sled, or qamutiit, while travelling between camps during the 2026 Nunavut Quest race. The race was first held in 1999 to celebrate the founding of Nunavut, and has since become an annual tradition.

The route will take the dogs, mushers and their support teams roughly 580 kilometres north over the course of a week.

The arduous journey takes them north — winding across sea ice, frozen lakes and rivers, before eventually arriving in Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet) the next week.

Nunavut Quest’s original rules were simple: the qamutiit must be four metres long, give or take 30 centimetres, and teams must have between 10 and 12 dogs secured to the sled with a traditional fan hitch.

Its origins trace back to 1999 — the year Nunavut was declared the country’s newest territory.

An aerial view of a camp on the sea ice in the Arctic.
Sled-dog racers — also called mushers — and their support teams travelled more than 580 kilometres from Igloolik, Nvt., to the race’s finish line in Mittimatalik, Nvt., over the course of a week.

Home to just over 40,000 residents today, Nunavut spans roughly two million square kilometres — by far the largest of any province or territory, comprising a fifth of the entire country.

Just ahead of its founding, four residents of Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay) wanted to create a dogsled race as a one-off event to celebrate the historic event.

They initially called it the North Baffin Quest, a race open only to teams that used the official animal of the new territory: Inuit sled dogs.

The inaugural event was so successful that it was repeated the next year, but renamed Nunavut Quest.

An endangered tradition

The race has helped revitalize an endangered tradition.

In the 1950s and ’60s, the RCMP slaughtered more than 1,000 Inuit sled dogs across the North.

It was part of an onslaught of colonial acts Canada committed in the Arctic, including forced relocations and residential schools.

The RCMP claimed in 2006 that no coordinated dog slaughter ever even took place.

But the force later insisted it was actually done “for public health and safety reasons, in accordance with the law.”

But the 2007–2010 Inuit-led Qikiqtani Truth Commission “quickly and soundly rejected” the force’s assertions.

According to Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national Inuit organization, the RCMP’s actual reason for the dog cull was “to terminate Inuit mobility.”

The heads of three white qimmitt (Inuktitut for dogs) are seen in a snowy landscape.
Inuit sled dog traditions were the target of colonial violence in the 1950s and ’60s, when the RCMP slaughtered more than 1,000 dogs across the North in an effort to hamper Inuit mobility. Now, the traditions are making a comeback.

In 2019, Canada apologized to Inuit for what it admitted were “colonial,” “traumatic” and “harmful” abuses, including the mass killing of qimmiit.

The sled dog cull left families “haunted by painful stories of the loss of qimmiit … losing the ability to travel and hunt for food safely and effectively,” the federal government admitted, “becoming unable to feed your families.”

“The commission was mandated to look in particular at community relocations and the killing of qimmiit in the region,” the apology noted, but its mandate expanded to scrutinizing the overarching “massive and traumatic disruption” to Inuit life and culture.

Nunavut Quest’s funding is drawn from a qimmiit revitalization program set up after the commission to “connect Inuit to our traditional activities and culture.”

Sponsored by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Nunavut Quest now offers $100,000 in prizes.

77-year-old Natalino Piugattuk wears winter gear and looks into the camera on a sunny day.
Natalino Piugattuk, 77, is a seasoned veteran of sled-dog racing. Photo: Lindsay Kalluk

Harnessing the power of dogs — and connectivity

This year’s race saw its nine qimuksiqtiit (dog-sledders) span generations — from seasoned veterans like 77-year-old Natalino Piugattuq, to relative newcomers like Jinneal Nanuraq Uttak.

Uttak only joined the race three years ago, but stunned fans when he won first place in both of his first two years.

Although the stars of the race are the qimuksiqtiit and their teams of sled dogs, they can’t win on their own.

A man looks at his phone while boiling water in his tent at night.
An Arctic campsite, including tents, snowmobiles, water bottles, gasoline tanks and other essentials.
Camps along the Nunavut Quest route reflect contemporary northern life, and include amenities such as generators and satellite internet.

Each racer is supported by two others who travel by snowmobile, along with other support drivers. Those teams create the trail mushers will follow each day, ranging from 55 kilometres to nearly 100 kilometres.

These support drivers — often mushers’ friends or family members — not only transport supplies such as food for the dogs, tents and other gear, but they also assist with overnight camp life and caring for the animals.

The camps reflect contemporary northern life.

Today’s amenities include generators, tracking devices and satellite internet dishes — allowing friends and family to share the experience with loved ones back home.

Two young people wearing winter gear look down at a phone while being towed by a snowmobile in a snowy landscape.
In recent editions of the Nunavut Quest, young people on the route have used the internet to share daily updates with people in the south.

This year, like the last two years, a group of youth harnessed that technology to provide daily updates to local and national media outlets, sharing their experiences with classrooms across the country.

The youth also chronicled everything from encounters with caribou to whiteouts, a disorienting weather phenomenon where the horizon and landmarks disappear from sight.

The end of a journey

Eight days after leaving Igloolik, each of this year’s teams crosses the finish line in Mittimatalik, the first with just over 28 hours of race-time.

There, a large crowd greets each musher — hoisting them, qamutiik and all, off the ground in celebration.

A man wearing winter survival gear hoists his left arm up in celebration, surrounded by a snowy landscape.
The winner of the 2026 Nunavut Quest, Jinneal Nanuraq Uttak, is hoisted up in a celebration after crossing the race’s final finish line in Mittimatalik.

At a closing ceremony several days later, officials announce the results of their 27th annual event.

Winning with an 88-minute lead, the $20,000 first-place prize goes to Jinneal Nanuraq Uttak.

For the up-and-coming rookie, it’s his third Nunavut Quest victory in a row.