The earliest evidence of human occupation unearthed so far by archaeological investigations is that of the Thule people, dating to approximately 1000 years ago.

In the late 19th century, whalers discovered that the Beaufort Sea was one of the last refuges of the depleted bowhead whale, which was prized for its baleen (whalebone), blubber, and oil.

At the height of the Beaufort Sea whaling period (1893–94) the number of residents on the island was estimated at 1,500, making it the largest Yukon community at that time.

With a recreation room, an office for the manager and storekeeper, and storage facilities, the Community House became the most prominent building on the island.

In 1903, Francis Joseph Fitzgerald was the first North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) officer assigned to the area, who later died in the famous "Lost Patrol".

[6] Canadian lawmen began to act in the area as arbiters of British justice and tended to be determined to apply their systems of law aggressively, as they felt they had been lenient in other regional murder trials.

On the return of the second member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who had been on patrol during the shootings, an unresisting Alikomiak was tied up and brought with the other Inuit to Herschel Island for trial.

[7] Herschel Island was chosen as the site for the trial because of its accessibility and because it was the only community along the Arctic coast that had significant buildings, a result of the whaling economy in the area.

They ascended the scaffold with great calmness and met death without fear.Anglican missionary Isaac Stringer first visited Herschel Island in 1893.

Constable Alexander Lamont age 30, Badge Number 5548 Royal Northwest Mounted Police died of a duty-related illness.

Constable Carl Lennart Sundell, aged 24 years, was stationed on board the RCMP supply schooner Herschel at the time of his death and died as a result of an accidental shooting.

In 1926 the Northern Whaling and Trading Company, owned and operated by Christian Theodore Pedersen, constructed a store, warehouse and small shed on the island.

It is approximately 15 by 8 km (9.3 by 5.0 mi) between shorelines, with a rolling tundra terrain that ranges in height from sea level to 182 m (597 ft).

The island is subject to very high rates of coastal erosion due to the ice-rich nature of the underlying permafrost, and its surface heaves and rolls down its own hillsides from the effects of frost creep and solifluction.

Herschel Island has a dry-winter tundra climate (Koppen ETw) characterized by long, cold, dry winters and short, cool, moist summers.

Polar night, when the sun does not appear above the horizon, lasts from 29 November to 14 January, but significant twilight is experienced for a few hours in the late morning and early afternoon during the latter period.

Bowhead whales can still be seen from Herschel as they migrate westward to the Bering Sea in September, feeding on krill close to the surface.

Ringed seals are the most common marine mammals in this part of the Arctic, feeding on fish along the edges of the ice during the summer months.

The island hosts the largest colony of black guillemots in the western Arctic, nesting in the old Anglican mission house.

Arctic terns, American golden plovers, and red-necked phalaropes make use of the tundra ponds and shingle beaches.

Other birds that breed on the island include the common eider, rough-legged hawk, snow bunting, Lapland longspur, and redpoll.

Most of the island is composed of level to gently sloping stable uplands, vegetated by cottongrass, ground shrubs, and wildflowers.

Its humid maritime climate during the growing season fosters a lush growth of tundra flowers, including vetches, louseworts, Arctic lupines, arnicas, and forget-me-nots.

The report states that a decrease in sea ice, and consequent increase in coastal erosion, poses a serious threat to Herschel Island's historic resources.

[14] The World Monuments Fund has placed Herschel Island on its 100 Most Endangered Sites, 2008 watch list,[15] citing "rising sea levels, eroding coastline and melting permafrost" as imminent threats.