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CIBC Archives (from Sep 2001 Newsletter)
An interest in natural resources and a desire to ensure the safety of Canada's northern frontier prompted the Federal Government to move into the northern regions of the country. Old Aklavik, 190 km north of the Arctic Circle and approximately 96 km from the mouth of the Mackenzie River, was founded as a trading post in 1912. The Canadian Bank of Commerce decided to open a branch in Aklavik in 1958.A party of three left Calgary in a Cessna 310 airplane on February 23, 1958. The pilot, Arctic veteran Hank Bullis, K.L Cutts of the Regional Office, Calgary and C.A. Novakowski, the new manager, spent the night in Edmonton and began the 2,253 km trip to Aklavik by 7:00 am the next day.
They were forced to spend the night at Norman Wells owing to bad weather, but arrived at Aklavik before noon on Monday
in brisk -50F temperature. In addition to survival gear, flares and rifles as required by law, they brought with them
a supply of cash, banking forms and a bank sign made of canvas. An hour later, the bank was open for business in the
rented bunkhouse which was to serve them as both bank and home for the next two and a half years. They offered all
banking services except safety deposit boxes. Their first customer arrived by dog sled which found accomodation in the branch's ample
customer parking facilities.
A local carpenter constructed a teller's cage and counters for the bank. They rented a safe from the Hudson's Bay Company. Blankets separated the bank section of the bunkhouse from the living quarters. Heating was a space heater which had a tendancy to stop functioning in the extreme temperatures. As the cabin lacked 'facilities', the men had to use the government washroom across the street. They passed their first winter without such amenities as cafes, movies or even a community hall. Summer, with its 24 hours of daylight, gave them the opportunity to get involved in community activities: softball, boating and hunting.
As the years passed by, the warm-hearted community began to melt the permafrost below, and the town began to sink slowly into the muskeg. The serious flooding and erosion prompted the Federal Government to move the town site 58km east of Old Aklavik. This new location, Aklavik East Three, was renamed Inuvik on September 2, 1958. Situated near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, the town attracted few settlers from the far south, but it had grown to be an important centre of the fur-trade and of the reindeer herding industry. There were both government-owned reindeer herds and privately owned herds grazing on the lush tundra which surrounded the community. The bank built a building and separate living quarters for its personnel in the summer of 1960. The new town was completed in 1961, the same year that The Commerce merged with the Imperial Bank of Canada to form The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Aklavik operated as a sub-agency to Inuvik from July 6, 1971 to January 31, 1979.
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