Gjoa Haven is also named Uqsuqtuuk which translates to “Place of plenty blubber” and it was called “the finest little harbor in the world” by Roald Amundsen. He discovered it in 1903 as a place to escape from massive chunks of ice and stormy weather. According to the people of Gjoa Haven, the reason Amundsen was able to complete the Northwest Passage successfully (he was the first) was because he listened to the local Inuit people and learned from them, while others did not. Here you can find the Northwest Passage Trail. There are many things to see here including the Heritage Center, where you can see many artifacts from Amundsen’s successful voyage of the Northwest Passage. If you walk along a rock-lined path beside the beach, it will take you to a cairn dedicated to Amundsen. There is a bronze memorial plaque that describes his life and voyage from Europe to Gjoa Haven.