Coppermine River,
Nunavut
In the Footsteps of  Franklin
Nominated

Copper deposits found along the river were important to the first peoples who lived there.  Many important archaeological sites, distinguished by copper artifacts, are found along the Coppermine.  It was stories of these copper deposits that brought Samuel Hearne to the area in 1771.  Hearne's documented overland journey to the river, and the massacre he witnessed at Bloody Falls, brought the Coppermine into the history books.  Other explorers, such as Sir John Franklin, soon followed and the Coppermine became an important exploration and fur trade route. The river continues to support the Inuit subsistence lifestyle.

Caribou, muskox, wolverine, wolves, moose, fox and a variety of raptors can be found here.  The Coppermine and its environment are essentially unchanged since the first British explorers saw it.