Hudson Bay

In southeastern Hudson Bay, the low Belcher Islands rise from a sea covered by ice through much of the year. Even in winter, openings in the ice provide feeding places for the eider ducks that remain around the islands. Inuit families have gathered eider down for generations and made warm clothing from the birds' skins. Dorset people and later Thule Inuit lived in the archipelago; in 1610 Henry Hudson sighted the islands during his voyage into the bay.