Qipuqqaq: Located on the eastern shore of Labrador, approximately 40km (25 mi) into the interior of Kaipokok Bay, Qipuqquq (also written as KipukKak) is known in English as Postville.

Only accessible by air or sea the ferry ride to Hopedale takes 5 hours to travel to Postville 132 km (82.0 mi). It is believed that quipuqqug refers to a "humpback whale".

The town was settled in 1830 as a trading post for the Quebec trader D. R. Stewart. In 1837 he sold it to the Hudson's Bay Company, which in turn moved it to Ailik.

Even though the post closed, it continued to be known as "The Post", even though there really was no major settlement after the post left.

When the post was operational, Inuit families would trade in the area during the fall, winter and spring, and then would return to the summer hunting grounds when the weather improved.

Aside from fish, the area is also rich in bears, foxes, wolves, caribou and moose.

According to ENL sources, in 1941 the community was "re-founded when the local Pentecostal pastor, William Gillet ran his boat into the sand bar that just out into the bay and he felt that this incident was some form of "sign" and as a result he built a church there and eventually a school and a store, and slowly the community was re-established.

By 1976 the population had grown to 164 and today there are only 177 inhabitants, a decrease of 14.1% from the 206 recorded in 2011.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/PostvilleInuitNL