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50-538: Land use and occupation by the first indigenous people in the area can be traced to the retreat of the glaciers. ( Finkelstein 2005 ) harv error: no target: CITEREFFinkelstein2005 ( help ) The descendants of the Cree and Chipewyan First Nations continue to carry on traditional fishing, hunting and trapping activities. It is "the longest standing tradition of native subsistence use." ( Finkelstein 2005 ) harv error: no target: CITEREFFinkelstein2005 ( help ) Based on excavations in

100-474: A "characteristic flora and fauna, particularly waterfowl" and the economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value of wetlands. The reasons for this designation as internationally significant are, "The Peace–Athabasca Delta is the largest boreal delta in the world and is relatively undisturbed by civilization. It is one of the most important waterfowl nesting and staging areas in North America and

150-640: A Wildlife Habitat Management Area. By the 1990s, the National Water Research Institute was involved in a provincial-territorial-federal initiative, the Northern River Basins Study, and was conducting research on the hydro-climatology and ecology of the Peace–Athabasca Delta. They investigated potential impact on the delta's productivity and biodiversity if the climate were to change. ( EC 2005 ) In

200-590: A change of -11.6% from its 2016 population of 2,542 . With a land area of 91.21 km (35.22 sq mi), it had a population density of 24.6/km (63.8/sq mi) in 2021. According to the 2016 census, the majority of people in Fort Smith (1,645) were Indigenous of which 920 were First Nations , 585 were Métis and 135 Inuit . The main languages are English, Chipewyan ( Dene ), Cree , Dogrib ( Tłı̨chǫ ), Slavey-Hare , Inuinnaqtun ( Inuvialuktun ) and Inuktitut . Local government consists of

250-402: A critical role in refilling perched basins and wetlands outside of the permanently connected channels and lakes. It has been claimed that the dam reduced ice-jam floods, but recent studies are not able to verify this claim. Sediment records were used to reconstruct the history of flooding for the past 300 years. Maximum flood frequency was seen to reach a maximum in the early 1900s and declined in

300-539: A population of 250, Fort Smith hosted 2,000 United States Army soldiers who were en route to the Canol Oil Pipeline Project at Norman Wells and the Canol Road . They brought hundreds of barge loads of supplies; and in order to move these, they built a tractor road from Fort Smith to Hay River and even farther north. The continued gold fever that fuelled Yellowknife's growth also stimulated

350-707: A viewing platform to oversee the Rapids of the Drowned. In 1970, the Adult Vocational Training Centre was opened. Its operations were later expanded and in 1981 it became Thebacha College. A few years later, Arctic College was created by the government of the Northwest Territories. The Thebacha Campus was home to government headquarters offices. In 1995, the college changed its name to Aurora College in order to allow Nunavut

400-675: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Fort Smith, Northwest Territories Fort Smith ( Chipewyan : Thebacha "beside the rapids") is a town in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the Slave River and adjacent to the Alberta border along the 60th parallel north . Fort Smith

450-607: Is an Indian reserve of the Mikisew Cree First Nation in Alberta , located within Improvement District No. 24 ( Wood Buffalo National Park ). 59°08′14″N 112°25′53″W  /  59.1371°N 112.4314°W  / 59.1371; -112.4314  ( Peace Point 222 ) This article about an Indian reserve in Alberta is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Northern Alberta location article

500-414: Is no clear indication that the dam is responsible. The Peace–Athabasca Delta is still well within the range of naturally variability due to natural changes in climate seen within the past few centuries. An ongoing lawsuit between BC Hydro and local First Nations bands relates to the effects of Bennett Dam on delta water levels and associated traditional lifestyles. The Birch River flows into Lake Claire ,

550-501: Is one of the most important places in North America for migrating waterbirds to rest, feed and breed.( Hanson 2005 ) harv error: no target: CITEREFHanson2005 ( help ) Although all four major North American flyways, Atlantic , Mississippi , Central , and Pacific , cross the Peace–Athabasca Delta, it is "probably the most significant to the Mississippi and Central flyways." In the spring, there can be up 400,000 migrating birds. In

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600-598: Is the staging area for breeding ducks and geese on their way to the MacKenzie River lowlands, Arctic river deltas and Arctic islands. Up to 400 000 birds may use the Delta in the spring, with more than one million birds in the autumn. The site also contains the largest undisturbed grass and sedge meadows in North America which are the prime range for an estimated 10, 000 wood and plains buffalo Bison bison athabascae and Bison bison bison ." In 1983, Peace–Athabasca Delta

650-620: The Fort Smith Region census division. Fort Smith is accessible all year long via the Fort Smith Highway . A winter road operates for several months to connect Fort Smith to Fort Chipewyan and from there to Fort McMurray. An all-weather road named Pine Lake Road links Fitzgerald . Fort Smith has a dry continental subarctic climate ( Koppen : Dfc) with very long winters combined with warm but relatively short summers. The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Smith

700-409: The 1940s and 1950s prior to the construction of the dam. There were no major ice-jam floods between 1975 and 1995 and this could be a result of the dam. Major ice-jam floods occurred in 1996 and 1997. There have been similar prolonged periods lacking major flooding including 1813 to 1839 and 1705 to 1786. Studies of the climate and ecology of the Peace–Athabasca Delta have been carried out to understand

750-469: The 1980s at the Peace Point and Lake One Dune (IgPc-9) sites, archaeologist Marc Stevenson argued that the area around Peace Point has been occupied by boreal forest-related and plains-related northern hunter-gatherer groups of people "at intervals over the last 7000-8000 years." In 1922, Wood Buffalo National Park was established to protect the remnant population of bison that escaped the slaughter in

800-534: The Alberta & Arctic Transportation Company, a subsidiary of Lamson & Hubbard Trading Company , commissioned two 75-horsepower (56 kW) tractors on the Slave River portage to haul commercial freight from one side of the rapids to the other. With the discovery of oil at Norman Wells in 1920, a federal government administration building was constructed to house the new Northwest Territories branch and

850-764: The Drowned). The portage trail had been traditionally used for centuries by generations of local Indigenous peoples . The make up of the Indigenous population of the region shifted as the fortunes of the tribes changed. By 1870, the Slavey had moved north and the Cree had occupied the Slave River Valley. The Chipewyan had also begun moving into the area. Peter Pond of the North West Company

900-537: The Fort Smith economy was centred around ship and barge building. The HBC and Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) established shipyards below Fort Smith. Wood Buffalo National Park was established in 1922; its operations and administration headquarters were in Fort Smith. In 1924, Fort Smith received the first of the Northwest Territories and Yukon Radio System installed by the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals . In 1928, Fort Smith Airport

950-461: The Northwest Territories' vast region. See history of Northwest Territories capital cities . On Friday August 9, 1968, disaster struck Fort Smith when a landslide some 1,010 by 300 m (3,300 by 990 ft) broke away from the riverbank; it caused property damage and killed one person. The riverbank area has since been sloped to stabilize it. Reshaped as a gentle hillside, it is known as Riverbank Park, and features groomed trails, picnic areas, and

1000-528: The Peace–Athabasca Delta region was designated by the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. The Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands,( Ramzar ) harv error: no target: CITEREFRamzar ( help ) was created to "stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future". They recognize the "fundamental ecological functions of wetlands" that support

1050-554: The Peace–Athabasca Delta. PADEMP chair, Stuart Macmillan representing Parks Canada, observed that, "I think everybody realizes if we don’t do this now, we’re in danger of losing something very special in the delta. The rate of change is increasing so rapidly that we’ve got to get a handle on what’s going on." According to Chris Heron, the NWT Metis Nation representative of the PADEMP, the use of traditional knowledge to determine

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1100-462: The Slave River rapids and, where needed, small portages were established to bypass the most dangerous areas. Nonetheless, serious mishaps were bound to happen. This section of the Slave River became known as 'The Rapids of the Drowned'. In 1872, the Hudson's Bay Company built an outpost called Smith's Landing (Fort Fitzgerald) at the most southern set of the Slave River rapids. In 1874, another outpost

1150-660: The Slave and Mackenzie rivers below Fort Smith (see boats of the Mackenzie River watershed ). In 1911, government was established in Fort Smith when Ottawa sent an Indian agent and a regional medical doctor, and the Royal Northwest Mounted Police opened a detachment. With these developments, Fort Smith became not only the transportation centre for the western Arctic but the administrative centre as well. The mission sawmill produced lumber for

1200-796: The Town of Fort Smith Council with 9 members (7 councillors, deputy mayor and mayor). The mayor works part-time and council is elected every three years. As of 2021 the current mayor of Fort Smith is Fred Daniels. Fort Smith is represented by the Salt River First Nation #195 and are part of the Akaitcho Territory Government . As of June 2012, the Salt River First Nation had given the Akaitcho Territory Government

1250-539: The construction and initial filling of the W.A.C. Bennett hydroelectric dam at the headwaters of the Peace River", the Peace–Athabasca delta experienced a "prolonged dry period" that turned some basins from aquatic into terrestrial ecosystems.( EC 2005 ) In 1974, a major flood occurred in the region and, when the spring water receded, the delta experienced a second prolonged dry period.( EC 2005 ) On 24 May 1982,

1300-479: The dam on the delta have been disputed. Initial drops in water levels were mitigated by the construction of three rock-fill weirs on the Chenal des Quatre Fourches, Revillon Coupé, and Rivière des Rochers, the first of which was later removed due to complaints from muskrat trappers. The weirs restored mean open-season water levels nearly to pre-regulation levels. Critical to the delta are spring ice-jam floods that play

1350-429: The ecological health of the Peace–Athabasca Delta and their findings will be investigated using western science.( Bell 2009 ) harv error: no target: CITEREFBell2009 ( help ) The marshes, lakes and mud flats of this area are an important habitat for waterfowl nesting and provides a staging area for migration . The unique location and habitat of the Peace–Athabasca Delta region supports numerous species of waterbirds and

1400-399: The effect of the dam on delta. It was found that the recent decades are neither the driest nor the wettest that the delta has experienced in the past three hundred years. The early 1900s were some of the wettest conditions experienced by the delta. During the early- to mid-1900s there was a general trend of drying. While the delta is drier today than it was in the early parts of the 1900s, there

1450-440: The fall, the number reaches one million. Species include ducks, geese, swans and the endangered whooping crane, which has its natural nesting place in the delta. The grass and sedge meadows of this area also provide habitat for several thousand wood and plains bison. In the late 1960s, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam was constructed on the Peace River in northern British Columbia by BC Hydro , a major hydropower utility. The impacts of

1500-621: The first court of justice in the Mackenzie District . The Union Bank of Canada , making use of a tent, opened the first bank in the Northwest Territories in Fort Smith in June 1921. In 1920 the Lamson & Hubbard Trading Company launched Distributor to service its trading posts along the Mackenzie River. This group was taken over by the HBC in 1924. By the 1930s, a significant part of

1550-540: The first hospital, St. Anne's, built in 1914 for the Grey Nuns . The sawmill also supplied the lumber for the first school, built in 1915. The Roman Catholic Mission also operated St. Bruno's Farm, which supplied produce, meat, and dairy products. Until it was closed in the 1920s, the farm supplied all the church's missions in the western Arctic. Its workers maintained a herd of more than 140 cattle. Horse-drawn freight services were complemented by tractors in 1919, when

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1600-486: The five-fold growth of Fort Smith's population in the decade following 1945. Government administrative facilities were increased to keep up with population needs and the village developed as a transportation hub for the Mackenzie District. Fort Smith was incorporated as a village in 1964; two years later, with a population of 2,130, the village became a town on October 1, 1966. The all-weather road to Hay River

1650-628: The home of the Northern Life Museum and the museum ship Radium King . Wood Buffalo National Park can also be accessed from Fort Smith. Every year the South Slave Friendship Festival, a music and arts festival, occurs in Fort Smith, usually in August. Musicians and artists from across the Northwest Territories and many other faraway places come to interact with other artists and show off their talents to

1700-399: The largest lake completely in Alberta, which is an important part of the delta. Other water bodies located in the delta are Baril Lake, Mamawi Lake, Hilda Lake, Otter Lake, French Lake, Pair Lakes, Welstead Lake, Four Forks Lake, Galoot Lake, Pushup Lake, Jemis Lake, Richardson Lake, Flett Lake, Blanche Lake and Limon Lake. Revillon Coupé, Rivière des Rochers and Chenal des Quatre Fourches are

1750-447: The late 19th century.( Finkelstein 2005 ) harv error: no target: CITEREFFinkelstein2005 ( help ) It became the world's largest herd of free roaming wood bison , currently estimated at more than 5,000. It is one of two known nesting sites of whooping cranes . In the late 1960s, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam was constructed on the Peace River in northern British Columbia by BC Hydro , a major hydropower utility. Between 1968 and 1971, "after

1800-762: The main distributaries connecting Lake Athabasca and the point where Peace River flows into the Slave River. When the Peace River is in flood, the flow of these channels are reversed and water from the Peace flows into Lake Athabasca. Other rivers draining the wetlands through the Peace–Athabasca Delta include Swift Current Creek, Carolyn Creek, Modere Creek, Steepbank River, McIvor River, Buckton Creek , Frog Creek, Sall River, Bolton Creek, Edra Creek, Peel Creek, Alice Creek, Mamawi Creek, Embarras River, Horse Island Creek, Chilloneys Creek, Claire River, Dempsey Creek, Baril River, Peltier Creek, Scow Channel, Powder Creek, and Revillon Coupe. Peace Point, Alberta Peace Point 222

1850-487: The mandatory six months notice that they would be separating from the organization. The Fort Smith Métis Council is the local representation for members of the Northwest Territory Métis Nation. In 1996, a framework agreement was signed with the government of the Northwest Territories and the government of Canada to commence negotiations on land, resources and self-government. Fort Smith is

1900-480: The public. Many tourists come to see the world-class Slave River and many kayakers try its rapids. Fort Smith Mission Park is a popular tourist attraction featuring historic buildings and a grotto from the Oblate Catholic Mission. In the summer months, pelicans can be seen nesting on the various rapids near Fort Smith. Whooping cranes , an endangered species, also nest in the area during

1950-749: The spring of 2006, BC Hydro dam managers released an agreed upon timed flow into the delta under appropriate hydrological and climatic conditions thereby increasing the magnitude of an ice-jam flood, producing the first major flood since c. 1986 and bringing restorative water to areas that had been dry since c.1986.( EC 2005 ) In June 2009, the Peace–Athabasca Delta Environmental Monitoring Program (PADEMP) held their first official meeting in Fort Smith with 17 groups participating, including federal, provincial and territorial governments and ten First Nations directly affected by

2000-482: The steam-propelled vessel SS Wrigley to run from Fort Smith to the Mackenzie River. The steamer SS  Grahame ran the Slave River from Fort McMurray to the head of the rapids at Smith's Landing beginning in 1882. In 1898, the Yukon Gold Rush brought many gold seekers over the portages and through Fort Smith. In 1908, a new HBC steamer paddlewheeler, SS Mackenzie River , was launched to operate on

2050-610: The summer and can be viewed via air charters as ground access is prohibited. There are a number of educational facilities in Fort Smith including Joseph Burr Tyrrell Elementary School , Paul William Kaeser High School and the Thebacha Campus of Aurora College. Additionally, the main office of the South Slave Divisional Education Council is located in the town. Fort Smith is the birthplace of Mark Carney , former governor of both

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2100-484: The territorial capital. The park headquarters for Wood Buffalo National Park is located in Fort Smith. The headquarters and Thebacha Campus of Aurora College is located in Fort Smith; it is the largest of the three campus locations in the Northwest Territories. Fort Smith is located in the South Slave Region (administrative) and Region 5, Northwest Territories ( census division ). The town was previously in

2150-526: The use of the Arctic College name for their tribal college. Today, Fort Smith's economy is based on the federal, territorial, and aboriginal governments, along with education and tourism. In 2008, interest began to develop to re-establish a portage route to supply the Fort McMurray oilsands operations by river. The town is approximately 300 km (190 mi) southeast of Yellowknife ,

2200-414: Was 39.9 °C (103.8 °F) on June 30, 2021. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −57.2 °C (−71.0 °F) on December 26, 1917. These are both the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in the Northwest Territories. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Fort Smith had a population of 2,248 living in 881 of its 1,009 total private dwellings,

2250-530: Was built. The discovery of gold in Yellowknife in 1938 was a catalyst for an economic boost to Fort Smith, as many prospectors came passing through and bought supplies at the post. In the same year, an Anglican Mission house was built; a church was built in 1939. In 1942–1943, Fort Smith played a small part in the war effort when huge armies raged across the globe in the Second World War . With

2300-614: Was constructed at the most northern set of rapids. It was called Fort Smith. Both posts were named in honour of Donald Alexander Smith , who in August 1897, was elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as The 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal . In 1876, the Roman Catholic Mission was moved from Salt River to Fort Smith while the community was prospering. In 1886, the Hudson's Bay Company launched

2350-481: Was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the world's largest freshwater deltas, for its biological diversity and for the population of wild bison. In 1986, Ducks Unlimited (Canada) and Alberta Energy and Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Division proposed "the portion of the delta lying outside Wood Buffalo National Park, with the exception of the Chipewyan Indian Reserves, as

2400-444: Was founded around the Slave River . It served a vital link for water transportation between southern Canada and the western Arctic. Early fur traders found a portage route, long established by indigenous peoples, from what is now Fort Fitzgerald on the western bank of the Slave River to Fort Smith. This route allowed its users to bypass the four sets of impassable rapids (Cassette Rapids, Pelican Rapids, Mountain Rapids, and Rapids of

2450-411: Was officially completed in 1966, permanently linking Fort Smith to the south. The completion of a southern rail link to Hay River in 1964 meant that Fort Smith's role as the transportation hub was largely negated. Shipping operations on the Slave River ceased in 1968. When Yellowknife was designated as the territorial capital in 1967, Fort Smith was kept as the administrative centre of the government of

2500-543: Was the first white trader recorded to have traveled on the Slave River and made contact with Indigenous peoples in this region. In the 1780s he established a post on Lake Athabasca called Fort Chipewyan , at the head of the Slave River. Dominated by the activities of the Hudson's Bay Company , the fur trade penetrated more deeply into the Mackenzie River district in the 19th century. York boats were used to run

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