Fort Severn, Ontario
Encyclopedia
- For other uses of the names "Severn" and "Fort Severn", see Severn (disambiguation)Severn (disambiguation)-Persons:* Claud Severn, British colonial governor of Hong Kong* Dan Severn, American martial artist and professional wrestler* Edmund Severn, American violinist and composer* James Severn, English association footballer...
.
Fort Severn First Nation
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
is located on Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
and is the most northern community
Extreme communities of Canada
This is a list of the extreme communities in Canada and its provinces and territories. They are further east, north, south or west than any other community, though they are generally not further than the extreme points of Canadian provinces. The record latitude or longitude is given.*Lloydminster...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
As of 2001, the population was 401, consisting of 90 families in an area of 40 square kilometres. The legal name of the reserve is Fort Severn 89; most Indian reserve
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
s in Canada have a number after the name.
The town is linked by winter road
Winter road
Winter roads are temporary highways carved out of snow and ice. They facilitate transportation to and from communities without permanent roads, and are commonly seen in isolated regions in Canada's north....
/ice road
Ice road
Ice roads are frozen, human-made structures on the surface of bays, rivers, lakes, or seas in the far north. They link dry land, frozen waterways, portages and winter roads, and are usually remade each winter. Ice roads allow temporary transport to areas with no permanent road access...
s in the winter to Peawanuck, Ontario
Peawanuck, Ontario
Peawanuck is an isolated Cree community in the Kenora District, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the confluence of the Winisk and Shamattawa Rivers, about 35 km from the Winisk River's end in Hudson Bay. Its population is 139 ....
in the east, and Shamattawa, Manitoba
Shamattawa, Manitoba
Shamattawa is a community in Northern Manitoba, Canada and the location of the Shamattawa First Nation. It is located on the banks of Gods River where the Echoing River joins as a right tributary....
and Gillam, Manitoba
Gillam, Manitoba
Gillam, Manitoba, Canada, is a community between Thompson and Churchill on the Hudson Bay Railway line. Gillam is a significant community because of the nearby Nelson River Bipole converter station on the Nelson River...
.
Fort Severn is police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
d by the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service
Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service
The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service is the police force for Nishnawbe-Aski Nation . Created in 1994, the force has 175 sworn officers at 35 detachments in NAN communities. The Chief of Police is vacant with Robin Jones Acting Chief of Police...
, an Aboriginal-based service.
History
This area was inhabited for thousands of years by varying cultures of indigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
. At the time of European contact, the historic Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
, an Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek, which is the plural form of the word—is the autonym often used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples. They all speak closely related Anishinaabemowin/Anishinaabe languages, of the Algonquian language family.The meaning...
-speaking people, lived in the area.
In 1689 the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
built Fort Severn at this site; it was one of the earliest English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
fur trading
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
posts in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. After years of international competition between the English and French, with their wars playing out in North America, the French attacked the outpost and pillaged it
Hudson Bay Expedition
The Hudson Bay expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse was a series of military raids on the lucrative fur trading posts and fortifications of the Hudson's Bay Company on the shores of Hudson Bay by a squadron of the French Royal Navy...
in 1782 when they were allies of the Thirteen Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
In the early 20th century, when the federal government negotiated a treaty with the First Nations, it set aside land for a native reserve in the Rocksand area at the confluence of the Severn
Severn River (northern Ontario)
The Severn River is a river in northern Ontario. The northern Ontario river has its headwaters near the western border of the province. From the head of the Black Birch River, the Severn River is long and its drainage basin is 102,800 km² , a small portion of which is in Manitoba...
and Sachigo
Sachigo River
The Sachigo River is a river in the Hudson Bay drainage basin in Kenora District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of the Severn River.-Course:...
Rivers, with the consent of the leaders at the time. In 1973, the reserve was relocated to the mouth of the Severn River on Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
, for more direct access to shipping. The reserve achieved full status on January 11, 1980.