Aklavik is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Until 1961, the community served as the regional administrative centre for the territorial government. Building conditions at the time considered to be unsuitable resulted in the development of Inuvik to the east, meant to entirely replace Aklavik. However, many residents have persevered and kept Aklavik as a community. The mayor of Aklavik is Arny Steinwand, whose term ends in 2016.HistoryAklavik began in the early 1900s with the Hudson's Bay Company opening a trading post in 1912 and the Roman Catholic Church establishing a mission in 1926. Located on the Peel Channel, in a good trapping area, the community became a transportation hub in the Mackenzie.Aklavik became part of the Northwest Territories and Yukon (NWT&Y) Radio system in October 1925. The NWT&Y system, a true pioneer system, was critical in providing communications in Canada's north. and was operated by the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (RC Sigs). In Alkavik, besides providing services to the general population, NWT&Y also provided communication for any aircraft that overflew the site with or without radio. An aircraft without radio that was simply passing over one of these stations and not destined to land would simply fly very low over the station so that it could be identified and the date and time of its passing would be recorded. The call sign for the NWT & Y station in Alkavik was VEF.