The Indigenous name of Herschel Island-Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park means 'it is island' and indeed it is. Barely rising above the waters of Mackenzie Bay on the Beaufort Sea, the park has a long tradition of human habitation. In the late 1800s, American whalers set up shop at Pauline Cove. Abandoned in 1907, the whalers left behind several surviving wooden buildings. Summer visits to Herschel Island are possible via tours from Inuvik.
Today Inuvialuit families use the island for traditional hunting, although climate change is causing the island to dissolve into the sea.