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119-570: The main expedition, led by Patrick Douglas Baird, travelled 3,100 miles (5,000 km), starting from Churchill, Manitoba , first to Baker Lake, Northwest Territories where the number of vehicles was reduced to ten. From there, the group travelled to Denmark Bay on Victoria Island , then south to Kugluktuk , Port Radium , Norman Wells , Fort Simpson , Fort Nelson , and Grande Prairie , and then by rail to Edmonton . Two soldiers were killed in an accidental fire incident in Churchill, just before

238-509: A ceremony was held to thank the bear for "giving" up its life to them. One study of the Ojibwe women who married French fur traders maintained that the majority of the brides were "exceptional" women with "unusual ambitions, influenced by dreams and visions—like the women who become hunters, traders, healers and warriors in Ruth Landes 's account of Ojibwe women". Out of these relationships emerged

357-557: A change of -3.2% from its 2016 population of 899. With a land area of 50.83 km (19.63 sq mi), it had a population density of 17.1/km in 2021. As of the 2021 Canada Census, just over 56 percent of the population is Indigenous , and the rest (43 percent) are non-native. Of the Indigenous population, there were 345 First Nations (69 percent), 80 Métis (16 percent), 25 Inuit (5 percent) and 35 people (7 percent) had multiple Indigenous ancestry. The non-native population

476-573: A coastal location at a latitude of 58 degrees north should warrant. The shallow Hudson Bay freezes over in the winter, eliminating maritime transit. Prevailing northerly winds from the North Pole jet across the frozen bay, leading to a January average temperature of −26.0 °C (−14.8 °F), comparable to the frigid cold in the Siberian Arctic city of Norilsk , which is at a much higher latitude of 69 degrees north. Juneau, Alaska , by contrast,

595-549: A fierce rivalry grow between France and Great Britain as each European power struggled to expand their fur-trading territories. The two imperial powers and their native allies competed in conflicts that culminated in the French and Indian War , a part of the Seven Years' War in Europe. The 1659–1660 voyage of French traders Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers into

714-471: A gap between demand and supply and to a higher equilibrium in terms of supply. Data from the trading posts show that the supply of beavers from the Aboriginals was price-elastic and therefore traders responded with increased harvests as prices rose. The harvests were further increased due to the fact that no tribe had an absolute monopoly near any trade and most of them were competing against each other to derive

833-530: A growing trade in the French and later British territories in the 17th century. The transition from a seasonal coastal trade into a permanent interior fur trade was formally marked with the foundation of Quebec on the Saint Lawrence River in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain , officially establishing the settlement of New France . This settlement marked the beginning of the westward movement of French traders from

952-453: A hunt should occur, particularly prohibitions against needless killing of deer. There are specific taboos against taking the skins of unhealthy deer. But the arrival of the lucrative, European deerskin trade prompted some hunters to abandon tradition and act past the point of restraint they had operated under before. The hunting economy collapsed because of the scarcity of deer as they were over-hunted and lost their lands to white settlers. As

1071-438: A relatively tight 100-degree turn. Maritime transportation companies, Nunavut Sealink and Supply (NSSI) as Groupe Desgagnés , and Nunavut Eastern Arctic Sealink (NEAS) both have bases in Churchill and provide sealift to Nunavik and all Nunavut communities. The port was used for the export of Canadian grain to European markets, with rail-sea connections made at Churchill. There are no roads from Churchill that connect to

1190-502: A series of small fortifications, beginning with Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario in 1673. Together with the construction of Le Griffon in 1679, the first full-sized sailing ship on the Great Lakes, the forts opened the upper Great Lakes to French navigation. More native groups learned about European wares and became trading middlemen, most notably the Ottawa . The competitive impact of

1309-562: A set of trails created by the Canadian and US military, responsible tour operators are granted permits to access these trails for wildlife viewing. Staying on these established trails ensures that the tundra ecosystem is maintained. October and early November are the most feasible times to see polar bears, thousands of which wait on the vast peninsula until the water freezes on Hudson Bay so they can return to hunt their primary food source, ringed seals. There are also opportunities to see polar bears in

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1428-663: A significant effect on the social behavior of Native Americans. Under the influence of rum, the younger generation did not obey the elders of the tribe and became involved with more skirmishes with other tribes and white settlers. Rum also disrupted the amount of time the younger generation of males spent on labor. Alcohol was one of the goods provided on credit, and led to a debt trap for many Native Americans. Native Americans did not know how to distill alcohol and thus were driven to trade for it. Native Americans had become dependent on manufactured goods such as guns and domesticated animals, and lost much of their traditional practices. With

1547-787: A site near Churchill for testing their early nuclear weapons before choosing Australia instead. Churchill is situated at the estuary of the Churchill River at Hudson Bay. The small community stands at an ecotone , on the Hudson Plains at the juncture of three ecoregions : the boreal forest to the south, the Arctic tundra to the northwest, and the Hudson Bay to the north. Wapusk National Park , located at 57°46′26″N 93°22′17″W  /  57.77389°N 93.37139°W  / 57.77389; -93.37139  ( Wapusk National Park ) ,

1666-401: A very slow return. The first revenues from fur sales in Europe did not arrive until four or more years after the initial investment. These economic factors concentrated the fur trade in the hands of a few large Montreal merchants who had available capital. This trend expanded in the 18th century and reached its zenith with the great fur-trading companies of the 19th century. Competition between

1785-661: A woman from one of these kinship networks would make a fur trader into a member of these networks, thereby ensuring that Indians belonging to whatever clan the trader had married into were more likely to deal only with him. Furthermore, the fur traders discovered that the Indians were more likely to share food, especially during the hard months of winter, to those fur traders who were regarded as part of their communities. One fur trader who married an 18-year old Ojibwe girl describes in his diary his "secret satisfaction at being compelled to marry for my safety". The converse of such marriages

1904-498: Is a lack of critical discussion on other factors such as beaver population dynamics, the number of animals harvested, nature of property rights, prices, role of the English and the French in the matter. The primary effect of increased French competition was that the English raised the prices they paid to the Aboriginals to harvest fur. The result of this was greater incentive for Aboriginals to increase harvests. Increased price will lead to

2023-745: Is a non-profit research and education facility 23 km (14 mi) east of the town of Churchill. It provides accommodations, meals, equipment rentals, and logistical support to scientific researchers who work on a diverse range of topics of interest to northern science. The Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO), operated by the University of Manitoba , was constructed with federal funds beginning in 2015. The observatory became operational in December 2021. It facilitates studies to address technological, scientific and economic issues pertaining to Arctic oil spills , gas exploration, and other contaminants. The facility

2142-643: Is abandoned. This area was also the site of the Churchill Rocket Research Range , part of Canadian-American atmospheric research. Its first rocket was launched in 1956, and it continued to host launches for research until closing in 1984. The site of the former rocket range now hosts the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, a facility for multidisciplinary Arctic research. In the 1950s, the British government considered establishing

2261-480: Is also a destination for birdwatching from late May until August; normally, 175 species are found there. Birders have recorded more than 270 species within a 40 km (25 mi) radius of Churchill, including snowy owl , tundra swan , American golden plover and gyrfalcon . More than 100 birds, including parasitic jaeger , Smith's longspur , stilt sandpiper , and Harris's sparrow nest there. Other birds that are seen around Churchill, but less often, include

2380-429: Is also at a latitude of 58 degrees north but is moderated by the warmer and much deeper Pacific Ocean . Juneau's −3.5 °C (25.7 °F) January average temperature is a full 22.5 °C (40.5 °F) warmer than Churchill's. Tourism and ecotourism are significant contributors to the local economy, with the polar bear season (October and November) being the largest. Tourists also visit to watch beluga whales in

2499-501: Is estimated to cost about $ 32 million. Churchill Airport , formerly a United States and Canadian military base, is serviced by Calm Air operating scheduled flights connecting Churchill to Winnipeg . The privately owned Port of Churchill is Canada's principal seaport on the Arctic Ocean . The port was originally constructed by the government in the 1930s, although the idea of building such an Arctic deep-water port originated in

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2618-417: Is likely that the women were in fact acting with the approval of their menfolk. Henry claims that he had left at once out of the fear of violence from jealous Ojibwe men, but it seemed more likely that he was afraid that his French-Canadian voyageurs might enjoy themselves too much with the Ojibwe women at this one village and would not want to travel further west. American historian Bruce White describes

2737-460: Is located in the Churchill River estuary, and consists of two saltwater sub-pools designed to simultaneously accommodate contaminated and control experiments on various scenarios of the behaviour of oil spills in sea ice. The concrete pools are equipped with a movable fabric roof to control snow cover and ice growth, and various sensors and instruments to allow real-time monitoring. The project

2856-509: Is mainly of European descent, although a small number of Black Canadians (2.3%) and Latin Americans (1%) also reside in Churchill. English is the most commonly spoken language, followed by Cree , Inuktitut , French and Dene . The town has a modern multiplex centre housing a cinema, cafeteria, public library, hospital, health centre, daycare, swimming pool, ice hockey rink, indoor playground, gym, curling rinks and basketball courts. Nearby

2975-580: Is now southern Ontario being bordered on three sides by Lake Ontario , Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay , and it was through Wendake that the Ojibwe and Cree who lived further north traded with the French. In 1649, the Iroquois made a series of raids into Wendake that were intended to destroy the Wendat as a people with thousands of Wendat taken to be adopted by Iroquois families with the rest being killed. The war against

3094-526: Is the Itsanitaq Museum , operated by the Diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson , with over 850 high quality Inuit carvings on permanent display. The exhibits include historical and contemporary sculptures of stone, bone, and ivory, as well as archaeological and wildlife specimens. The Parks Canada visitor centre also has artifacts on display and makes use of audiovisual presentations of various topics involving

3213-667: Is to the southeast of the town. The landscape around Churchill is influenced by shallow soils caused by a combination of subsurface permafrost and Canadian Shield rock formation. The black spruce dominant tree cover is sparse and stunted by these environmental constraints. There is also a noticeable ice pruning effect on the trees. The area also offers sport fishing. Several tour operators offer expeditions on land, sea and air, using all-terrain vehicles, tundra buggies, boats, canoes, helicopters, and ultralight aircraft . Like all northern communities in Canada, Churchill can sometimes see

3332-517: The Financial Post reported that due to delays in the approval of several new pipelines from Alberta 's oil fields, oil industry planners were considering shipping oil by rail to Churchill, for loading on panamax oil tankers . Under this plan icebreakers would extend the shipping season. In July 2016, OmniTRAX announced the closure of the Port of Churchill and the end of daily rail freight service to

3451-554: The Métis people whose culture was a fusion of French and Indian elements. Indian men were the trappers who killed the animals for their furs, but normally it was the women who were in charge of the furs that their menfolk had collected, making women into important players in the fur trade. Indian women normally harvested the rice and made the maple sugar that were such important parts of the traders' diets, for which they were usually paid with alcohol. Henry mentions how at one Ojibwe village,

3570-588: The Central Plains . While some historians dispute the claims that the competition was predominantly responsible for over-exploitation of stocks, others have used empirical analysis to emphasize the changing economic incentives for Indigenous hunters and role of the Europeans in the matter. Calvin Martin holds that there was a breakdown of the relationship between man and animal among some Indigenous hunters who, adapting to

3689-697: The Compagnie des Cent-Associés went bankrupt, New France was taken over by the French Crown. King Louis XIV wanted his new Crown colony to turn a profit and dispatched the Carignan-Salières Regiment to defend it. In 1666, the Carignan-Salières Regiment made a devastating raid upon Kanienkeh, which led the Five Nations to sue for peace in 1667. The era from roughly 1660 through 1763 saw

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3808-475: The Company of Habitants in the 1640s and 1650s, permitting a small group of investors within Canada an initial hold on the monopoly but then quickly pulling back and limiting trading and investment within the colony. While the monopolies dominated the trade, their charters also required payment of annual returns to the national government, military expenditures, and expectations that they would encourage settlement for

3927-462: The Dakota , who were the enemies of the Ojibwe at the time. Likewise, the fur trader Alexander Henry in visiting an Ojibwe village in what is now Manitoba in 1775 described the "facility with which the women abandoned themselves to my Canadiens " to such an extent that he believed it would cause violence as the Ojibwe men would become jealous, causing him to order his party to leave at once, though it

4046-708: The Grand Banks of the North Atlantic in the 16th century. The new preservation technique of drying fish allowed the mainly Basque fishermen to fish near the Newfoundland coast and transport fish back to Europe for sale. The fishermen sought suitable harbors with ample lumber to dry large quantities of cod. This generated their earliest contact with local Indigenous peoples, with whom the fisherman began simple trading. The fishermen traded metal items for beaver robes made of sewn-together, native-tanned beaver pelts. They used

4165-505: The Hudson's Bay Company built the first permanent settlement, Churchill River Post, a log fort a few kilometres upstream from the mouth of the Churchill River . The trading post and river were named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough , who was governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in the late 17th century. The fort, Prince of Wales Fort , was rebuilt at the mouth of the river. The fort

4284-555: The St. Lawrence River . In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces established a base called Fort Churchill, 8 km (5.0 mi) east of the town. After World War II, the base served several other purposes, including being a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and a Strategic Air Command facility. Following the demolition of the base it was repurposed into the town's airport . Naval Radio Station Churchill, call sign CFL,

4403-577: The aurora borealis (Northern Lights) when there is a high amount of solar activity and the skies are clear, usually in February and March. Visibility also depends on the sky being dark enough to see them, which usually precludes their visibility in the summer due to nautical twilight all night long . Churchill has a very harsh subarctic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Dfc ) with long, frigid winters (from early October to May) and short, cool to mild summers. Churchill's winters are much colder than

4522-543: The northern hawk-owl , three-toed woodpecker and the Ross's gull . The town has a modern health centre, operated by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority , which employs about 129 people, including six doctors and eighteen nurses. It provides 21 acute care beds, dental care and diagnostic laboratories to service the residents of Churchill and the regions of Nunavut . The Churchill Northern Studies Centre

4641-543: The pays d'en haut . Champlain supported the northern groups in their preexisting military struggle with the Iroquois Confederacy to the south. He secured the Ottawa River route to Georgian Bay , greatly expanding the trade. Champlain also sent young French men to live and work among the natives, most notably Étienne Brûlé , to learn the land, language, and customs, as well as to promote trade. Champlain reformed

4760-482: The "nations of the north" which was attended by Ojibwe, Dakota, and Assiniboine leaders, where it was agreed that the daughters and sons of the various chiefs would marry each other to promote peace and ensure the flow of French goods into the region. The French fur trader Claude-Charles Le Roy writes that the Dakota had decided to make peace with their traditional enemies, the Ojibwe, in order to obtain French goods that

4879-577: The 1620s, the Iroquois had become dependent upon iron implements, which they obtained by trading fur with the Dutch at Fort Nassau (modern Albany, New York ). Between 1624 and 1628, the Iroquois drove out their neighbors, the Mahican, to allow themselves to be the one people in the Hudson river valley able to trade with the Dutch. By 1640, the Five Nations had exhausted the supply of beavers in Kanienkeh ("the land of

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4998-534: The 19th century, by which time the entire operation was fueled by seasoned trails, the knowledge and experiences of numerous frontiersmen and the system of elaborate trade networks. The trade soon became one of the main economic drivers in North America, attracting competition amongst European nations, whom maintained trade interests in the Americas. The United States sought to remove the substantial British control over

5117-458: The 19th century. It is the only Arctic Ocean seaport connected to the North American railway grid . The port is capable of servicing Panamax vessels. The presence of ice on Hudson Bay restricts navigation from mid-autumn to mid-summer. Churchill experiences the highest tides in Hudson Bay. The Churchill estuary has a narrow entrance, and ships planning to moor at the port have to execute

5236-509: The Arctic. This Canadian military article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Churchill, Manitoba Churchill is an Arctic port town in northern Manitoba , Canada, on the west shore of Hudson Bay , roughly 140 km (87 mi) from the Manitoba– Nunavut border. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in

5355-868: The Canadian highway network. The only overland route connecting Churchill to the rest of Canada is the Hudson Bay Railway , formerly part of the Canadian National Railway (CN) network, which connects the Port of Churchill and the town's railway station to CN's rail line at The Pas . The Winnipeg–Churchill train , operated by Via Rail , provides passenger service between Churchill station in downtown Churchill and Union Station in downtown Winnipeg twice per week and from The Pas once per week. The 1,700 km (1,100 mi) journey from Winnipeg takes approximately 40 hours, and services many smaller communities in northern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan. In 1997,

5474-509: The Churchill River in June and July. The area is also popular for birdwatchers and to view the aurora borealis . The Port of Churchill is the terminus for the Hudson Bay Railway operated by the Arctic Gateway Group . The port facilities handle shipments of grain and other commodities around the world. The Churchill Northern Studies Centre also attracts visitors and academics from around

5593-426: The Churchill region, however, many alliances between bears are made in the fall. These friendships last only until the ice forms. Then, it is every bear for itself to hunt ringed seals . Starting in the 1980s, the town developed a sizable tourism industry focused on the migration habits of the polar bear. Tourists can safely view polar bears from specially modified vehicles built to navigate the tundra terrain. Utilizing

5712-403: The English and the French was disastrous on the beaver population. The status of beavers changed dramatically as it went from being a source of food and clothing for Indigenous peoples to a vital good for exchange with the Europeans. The French were constantly in search of cheaper fur and trying to cut off Indigenous middleman which led them to explore the interior all the way to Lake Winnipeg and

5831-577: The First Nations in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and along the Saint Lawrence River . He concentrated on trading for furs used as trimming and adornment. He overlooked the fur that would become the driving force of the fur trade in the north, the beaver pelt, which would become fashionable in Europe. The earliest European trading for beaver pelts dated to the growing cod fishing industry that spread to

5950-473: The Five Nations once and for all, and to teach them to respect the "grandeur" of France. The repeated French raids took their toll with the Mohawk who could field about 300 warriors in the 1670s to able to field only 170 warriors in the summer of 1691. The Iroquois struck back by making raids into New France with the most successful being a raid on Lachine in 1689 that killed 24 Frenchmen while taking 80 captives, but

6069-434: The French took an ambivalent attitude towards the Iroquois push west. On one hand, having the Five Nations at war with other nations prevented those nations from trading with the English at Albany, while on the other hand, the French did not want the Iroquois to become the only middlemen in the fur trade. But as the Iroquois continued to win against the other nations, they prevented French and Algonquin fur traders from entering

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6188-462: The Hudson Bay. Their success led to England's chartering of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, a major player in the fur trade for the next two centuries. French exploration and expansion westward continued with men such as La Salle and Jacques Marquette exploring and claiming the Great Lakes as well as the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys. To bolster these territorial claims, the French constructed

6307-572: The Hudson's Bay Company competition. At the same time, the English presence in New England grew stronger, while the French were occupied with trying to combat the coureurs de bois and allied Indians from smuggling furs to the English for often higher prices and higher quality goods than they could offer. In 1675, the Iroquois made peace with the Machian while finally defeating the Susquenhannock . In

6426-475: The Hudson's Bay Company show this trend. The English and French had very different trading hierarchical structures. The Hudson's Bay Company had a technical monopoly of the beaver trade within the drainage basin of Hudson Bay while the Compagnie d'Occident was given a monopoly of the beaver trade farther south. The English organized their trade on strictly hierarchical lines while the French used licenses to lease

6545-483: The Hudson's Bay Company, it remained a stable, if not profitable, source of furs. Between the years of decline in the fur trade and the emergence of Western agricultural success, Churchill phased into and then back out of obsolescence. After decades of frustration over the monopoly and domination of the Canadian Pacific Railway , western Canadian governments banded together. They aggressively negotiated for

6664-447: The Iroquois finally made peace with the French in 1667, one of the terms was the French had to hand over all of the Wendat who had fled to New France. The Iroquois had already clashed with the French in 1609, 1610 and 1615, but the "beaver wars" caused a lengthy struggle with the French who had no intention of allowing the Five Nations to set themselves up as the only middlemen in the fur trade. The French did not fare well at first, with

6783-456: The Iroquois inflicting more casualties then they suffered, French settlements frequently cut off, canoes bringing fur to Montreal intercepted, and sometimes the Iroquois blockaded the Saint Lawrence. New France was a proprietary colony run by the Compagnie des Cent-Associés who went bankrupt in 1663 because of the Iroquois attacks which made the fur trade unprofitable for the French. After

6902-495: The Iroquois, who had a predatory attitude towards their neighbors even at the best of times, constantly raiding neighboring peoples in "mourning wars" in search of captives who would become Iroquois, were determined to be the only middlemen between the Europeans and the other Indians who lived in the West, and quite consciously set about eliminating any rivals as such as the Huron (Wendat). By

7021-522: The Mississippi River valley, and the Ottawa showed signs of finally making an alliance with the Five Nations, in 1684, the French declared war on the Iroquois. Otreouti in an appeal for help correctly noted: "The French will have all the beavers and are angry with us for bringing you any". Starting in 1684, the French repeatedly raided Kanienkeh, burning crops and villages as Louis gave orders to "humble"

7140-490: The Native Americans in debt. Traders would rig the weighing system that determined the value of the deerskins in their favor, cut measurement tools to devalue the deerskin, and would tamper with the manufactured goods to decrease their worth, such as watering down the alcohol they traded. To satisfy the need for deerskins, many males of the tribes abandoned their traditional seasonal roles and became full-time traders. When

7259-470: The North American fur trade during the first decades of its existence . Many Indigenous peoples would soon come to depend on the fur trade as their primary source of income and method of obtaining European-manufactured goods (such as weaponry, housewares, kitchenwares, and other useful products). However, by the mid-19th century, changing fashions in Europe brought about a collapse in fur prices and led to

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7378-559: The North West with Montreal . The old system of native middlemen and coureurs de bois traveling to trade fairs in Montreal or illegally to English markets was replaced by an increasingly complex and labor-intensive trade network. Licensed voyageurs , allied with Montreal merchants, used water routes to reach the far-flung corners of the North West with canoe loads of trade goods. These risky ventures required large initial investments and had

7497-632: The Ojibwe were blocking them from receiving. Le Roy writes the Dakota "could obtain French merchandise only through the agency of the Sauteurs [Ojibwe]" so they made "a treaty of peace by which they were mutually bound to give their daughters in marriage on both sides". Indian marriages usually involved a simple ceremony involving the exchange of valuable gifts from the parents of the bride and groom and, unlike European marriages, could be dissolved at any time by one partner choosing to walk out. The Indians were organized into kinship and clan networks, and marrying

7616-596: The Saint Lawrence heightened the fierce competition between the Iroquois and Huron for access to the rich fur-bearing lands of the Canadian Shield . The competition for hunting is believed to have contributed to the earlier destruction of the Saint Lawrence Iroquoians in the valley by 1600, likely by the Iroquois Mohawk tribe, who were located closest to them, were more powerful than the Huron, and had

7735-404: The Wendat was at least just as much a "mourning war" as a "beaver war" as the Iroquois obsessively raided Wendake for ten years after their great raids of 1649 to take single Wendat back to Kanienkeh, even though they did not possess much in the way of beaver pelts. The Iroquois's population had been devastated by losses because of European diseases like smallpox for they had no immunity, and when

7854-484: The ancestors of the present-day Inuit . The Dene people arrived around the year 500 from farther north. Since before the time of European contact, the region around Churchill has been predominantly inhabited by the Chipewyan and Cree peoples. Europeans first arrived in the area in 1619 when a Danish expedition led by Jens Munk wintered near where Churchill would later stand. Only 3 of 64 expedition members survived

7973-449: The autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" and to the benefit of its burgeoning tourism industry. Churchill is located on Hudson Bay , at the mouth of the Churchill River on the 58th parallel north , far above most Canadian populated areas. Churchill is far from any other towns or cities, with Thompson , approximately 400 km (250 mi) to the south, being

8092-414: The beaver returns from each trading post, biological evidence on beaver population dynamics and contemporary estimates of beaver population densities. While the view that increased competition between the English and the French led to over-exploitation of beaver stocks by the Aboriginals does not receive uncritical support, most believe that Aboriginals were the primary actors in depleting animal stocks. There

8211-480: The business of the trade, creating the first informal trust in 1613 in response to increasing losses because of competition. The trust was later formalized with a royal charter, leading to a series of trade monopolies during the term of New France. The most notable monopoly was the Company of One Hundred Associates based back in France, with a period of attempted transition towards other share trading companies, such as

8330-407: The closest larger settlement. Manitoba's provincial capital, Winnipeg , is approximately 1,000 km (620 mi) south of Churchill. While not part of the city, Eskimo Point and Eskimo Island is located across the river at the former site of the Prince of Wales Fort . Various nomadic Arctic peoples lived and hunted in this region. The Thule people arrived around the year 1000 from the west,

8449-536: The continental United States and Alaska . Europeans began their participation in the North American fur trade from the initial period of their colonization of the Americas onward, bringing the financial and material gains of the trade to Europe. European merchants from France , England and the Dutch Republic established trading posts and forts in various regions of eastern North America, primarily to conduct trade transactions with First Nations and local communities. The trade reached its peak of economic prominence in

8568-426: The continual supply of European goods to their communities and discourage fur traders from dealing with other Indian tribes. The fur trade did not involve barter in the way that most people presuppose but was a credit/debit relationship when a fur trader would arrive in a community in the summer or fall, hand out goods to the Indians who would pay him back in the spring with the furs from the animals they had killed over

8687-465: The country north and west of Lake Superior symbolically opened this new era of expansion. Their trading voyage proved extremely lucrative in furs. More importantly, they learned of a frozen sea to the north that provided easy access to the fur-bearing interior. Upon their return, French officials confiscated the furs of these unlicensed coureurs des bois . Radisson and Groseilliers went to Boston and then to London to secure funding and two ships to explore

8806-628: The crashing of several fur companies. Many Indigenous (and European) communities that relied on the fur trade were suddenly plunged into poverty and, consequently, lost much of the political influence they once held. The number of beavers and river otters killed during the fur trade was devastating for the animals' North American populations. The natural ecosystems that came to rely on the beavers for dams , river and water management and other vital needs were also ravaged, leading to ecological destruction , significant environmental change, and even drought in certain areas. Following this degradation, both

8925-472: The creation of a significant new northern shipping harbour on Hudson Bay, linked by rail from Winnipeg . Initially, Port Nelson was selected for this purpose in 1912. After several years of effort and millions of dollars, this project was abandoned, and Churchill was chosen as the alternative after World War One . Surveys by the Canadian Hydrographic Service ship CSS  Acadia opened

9044-529: The dead Iroquois; thus a cycle of violence and warfare escalated. More significantly, new infectious diseases brought by the French decimated Native communities . Combined with warfare, disease led to the near destruction of the Huron by 1650. During the 1640s and 1650s, the Beaver Wars initiated by the Iroquois forced a massive demographic shift as their western neighbors fled the violence. They sought refuge west and north of Lake Michigan . The Five Nations of

9163-524: The deer populations declined and the government pressured tribes to switch to the European settler's way of life, animal husbandry replaced deer hunting both as an income and in the diet. Rum was first introduced in the early 16th century as a trading item and quickly became an inelastic good . While Native Americans for the most part acted conservatively in trading deals, they consumed a surplus of alcohol. Traders used rum to help form partnerships. Rum had

9282-454: The deerskin trade collapsed, Native Americans found themselves dependent on manufactured goods, and could not return to the old ways because of lost knowledge. It was a common practice on the part of the Indian women to offer marriage and sometimes just sex in exchange for fur traders not trading with their rivals. Radisson describes visiting one Ojibwe village in the spring of 1660 where during

9401-560: The eastern provinces of Canada and the northeastern American colonies (soon-to-be northeastern United States ). The trade was initiated mainly through French, Dutch and English settlers and explorers in collaboration with various First Nations tribes of the region, such as the Wyandot-Huron and the Iroquois ; ultimately, the fur trade's financial and cultural benefits would see the operation quickly expanding coast-to-coast and into more of

9520-512: The expansion while centralizing the French efforts. As native peoples had the primary role of suppliers in the fur trade, Champlain quickly created alliances with the Algonquin , Montagnais (who were located in the territory around Tadoussac), and most importantly, the Huron to the west. The latter, an Iroquoian -speaking people, served as middlemen between the French on the Saint Lawrence and nations in

9639-519: The first permanent settlement of Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay River on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, up the Saint Lawrence River and into the pays d'en haut (or "upper country") around the Great Lakes . What followed in the first half of the 17th century were strategic moves by both the French and the Indigenous groups to further their own economic and geopolitical ambitions. Champlain led

9758-457: The flint," the Iroquois name for their homeland in what is now upstate New York ), and moreover Kanienkeh lacked the beavers with the thick pelts that the Europeans favored and would pay the best price for, which were to be found further north in what is now northern Canada. The Five Nations launched the "Beaver Wars" to take control of the fur trade from other middlemen who would deal with the Europeans. The Wendat homeland, Wendake, lies in what

9877-464: The flood damage. On 1 November 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Churchill residents to celebrate the resumption of rail freight service to the town. Regular freight shipments resumed in late November and passenger service in early December 2018. In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada , Churchill had a population of 870 living in 389 of its 540 total private dwellings,

9996-463: The fort. The worst effect was on the local indigenous peoples, who had become dependent on trade goods from the fort, and many of them starved. Extensive reconstruction and stabilization of the fort's remains have occurred since the 1950s. In 1783, Hearne returned to build a new fort a short distance upriver. Due to its distance from areas of heavy competition between the North West Company and

10115-613: The front page. In the late 1950s, the first local paper, the weekly Churchill Observer was produced by an avocational journalist, Jack Rogers, at Defence Research Northern Laboratories (DRNL) and continued for some years even after his departure. Later another small paper, the Taiga Times was published for a few years. North American fur trade The North American fur trade is the (typically) historical commercial trade of furs and other goods in North America , predominantly in

10234-406: The fur trade also brought profound changes to the Indigenous communities living along the Saint Lawrence. European wares, such as iron axe heads, brass kettles, cloth, and firearms were bought with beaver pelts and other furs. The widespread practice of trading furs for rum and whiskey led to problems associated with inebriation and alcohol abuse. The subsequent destruction of beaver populations along

10353-409: The importance of personal contacts and experience in the fur trade, gave an edge to independent traders over the more bureaucratic monopolies. The newly established English colonies to the south quickly joined the lucrative trade, raiding the Saint Lawrence River valley and capturing and controlling Quebec from 1629 to 1632. While bringing wealth to a few select French traders and the French regime,

10472-669: The late 1670s and early 1680s, the Five Nations started to raid what is now the Midwest , battling the Miami and the Illinois while alternatively fighting against and attempting to make an alliance with the Ottawa. One Onondaga chief, Otreouti, whom the French called La Grande Gueule ("the big mouth"), announced in a speech in 1684 that the wars against the Illinois and Miami were justified because "They came to hunt beavers on our lands ...". Initially,

10591-486: The main group departed. Many of those on the expedition suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning because wind blew exhaust inside the snowmobiles. On April 4, a Port Radium local drowned while trying to help rescue one of the Penguin snowmobiles which had fallen through the ice on Great Bear Lake . The mission demonstrated that it was highly unlikely that Soviet forces would attempt an overland invasion of North America through

10710-418: The maximum benefit from the presence of the English and the French. Additionally, the problem of the commons is also glaringly visible in this matter. Open access to resources leads to no incentive to conserve stocks, and actors which try to conserve lose out compared to the others when it comes to maximizing economic output. Therefore, there appeared to be a lack of concern by tribes of the First Nations about

10829-532: The most to gain by controlling this part of the valley. Iroquois access to firearms through Dutch and later English traders along the Hudson River increased the casualties in the warfare. This greater bloodshed, previously unseen in Iroquoian warfare, increased the practice of " Mourning Wars ". The Iroquois raided neighboring groups to take captives, who were ceremonially adopted as new family members to replace

10948-460: The new English Hudson's Bay Company trade was felt as early as 1671, with diminished returns for the French and the role of the native middlemen. This new competition directly stimulated French expansion into the North West to win back native customers. What followed was a continual expansion north and west of Lake Superior. The French used diplomatic negotiations with natives to win back trade and an aggressive military policy to temporarily eliminate

11067-403: The new cattle herds roaming the hunting lands, and a greater emphasis on farming due to the invention of the cotton gin , Native Americans struggled to maintain their place in the economy. An inequality gap had appeared in the tribes, as some hunters were more successful than others. Still, the creditors treated an individual's debt as debt of the whole tribe and used several strategies to keep

11186-446: The non-winter months, with tours via boat visiting the coastal areas where polar bears can be found on land and swimming in the sea. Many locals leave their cars unlocked in case someone needs to quickly escape the polar bears in the area. Local authorities maintain a so-called " polar bear jail " where bears (primarily adolescents) who persistently loiter in or close to town, are held after being tranquillised, pending release back into

11305-527: The original fort was replaced with Prince of Wales Fort, a large stone fort on the western peninsula at the mouth of the river. In 1782, the French Hudson Bay expedition , led by La Pérouse , captured it. Since the British, under Samuel Hearne , were greatly outnumbered and, in any event, were not soldiers, they surrendered without firing a shot. The leaders agreed Hearne would be released and given safe passage to England, along with 31 British civilians, in

11424-624: The port. Weekly freight service to the town remained until May 2017, when floods washed out the track. In 2018, the Port of Churchill, the Hudson Bay Railway, and the Churchill Marine Tank Farm were purchased by Arctic Gateway Group , a public-private partnership that includes Missinippi Rail LP (a consortium of First Nations and local governments), Fairfax Financial and AGT Food and Ingredients . The group engaged Cando Rail Services and Paradox Access Solutions to repair

11543-483: The railway line and port were sold by the Canadian government to the American railway-holding company OmniTRAX . The government of Manitoba proposed in 2010 that the Port of Churchill could serve as an "Arctic gateway," accepting container ships from Asia whose containers would then be transported south by rail to major destinations in North America. Churchill has been used to transship grain since 1929. In October 2012,

11662-430: The region's natural and archaeological history. By the late 1980s, both the local government and Parks Canada had successfully educated its population on polar bear safety, significantly reducing lethal confrontations and fuelling ecotourism such that both the community and the polar bears benefited. Churchill has a newspaper called The Hudson Bay Post . It is a monthly newspaper "published occasionally," according to

11781-525: The river otter and beaver populations in North America would continue to decline, without much noticeable improvement until around the mid-twentieth century. French explorer Jacques Cartier in his three voyages into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in the 1530s and 1540s conducted some of the earliest fur trading between European and First Nations peoples associated with 16th century and later explorations in North America. Cartier attempted limited fur trading with

11900-522: The robes to keep warm on the long, cold return voyages across the Atlantic. These castor gras (in French) became prized by European hat makers in the second half of the 16th century, as they converted the pelts to felt . The discovery of the superior felting qualities of beaver fur, along with the rapidly increasing popularity of beaver felt hats in fashion, transformed the incidental trading of fishermen into

12019-409: The settling to a lower level of stable population, further declines were caused by over-harvesting in two of the three English trading posts (Albany and York). The data from the third trading post are also very interesting in that the post did not come under French pressure and was therefore shielded from the kind of over-exploitation of stocks which resulted at the other trading posts. At Fort Churchill,

12138-481: The sloop Severn , on condition he immediately publish his story A Journey to the Northern Ocean . In return, the British promised the same number of French prisoners would be released, and a British seaman familiar with the waters safely navigated the French away from the Hudson's Bay coastline at a time of year when the French risked becoming trapped in winter ice. The French made an unsuccessful attempt to demolish

12257-440: The sparsely populated New France. The vast wealth in the fur trade created enforcement problems for the monopoly. Unlicensed independent traders, known as coureurs des bois (or "runners of the woods"), began to do business in the late 17th and early 18th century. Over time, many Métis were drawn to the independent trade; they were the descendants of French trappers and native women. The increasing use of currency , as well as

12376-569: The stocks of beaver adjusted to the maximum sustained yield level. The data from Churchill further reinforce the case of over-exploitation of stocks caused by the French-English competition. Indigenous North American beliefs in the affected region incorporate respect for the environment. Traditionally, many tribes in the region believe in a spiritual relationship between the people and the animals they rely on for food, clothing, and medicines, and many tribes have traditional protocols surrounding how

12495-558: The superior resources of the French state proceeded to grind them down until they finally made peace in 1701 . The settlement of native refugees from the Beaver Wars in the western and northern Great Lakes combined with the decline of the Ottawa middlemen to create vast new markets for French traders. Resurgent Iroquoian warfare in the 1680s also stimulated the fur trade as native French allies bought weapons. The new more distant markets and fierce English competition stifled direct trade from

12614-455: The sustainability of the fur trade. The problem of over-exploitation is not helped by the fact that the efforts by the French to remove the middlemen such as the Huron who increasingly resented their influence meant that stocks were put under more pressure. All these factors contributed to an unsustainable trade pattern in furs which depleted beaver stocks very fast. An empirical study done by Ann M. Carlos and Frank D. Lewis shows that apart from

12733-585: The use of their posts. This meant that the French incentivized the extension of trade, and French traders did indeed infiltrate much of the Great Lakes region. The French established posts on Lake Winnipeg, Lac des Praires and Lake Nipigon which represented a serious threat to flow of furs to the York Factory . The increasing penetration near English ports meant that the Native Americans had more than one place to sell their goods. The simulation of beaver populations around trading posts are done by taking into account

12852-429: The way for safe navigation. Construction was completed by 1929. Once this transportation rail link from farms to the Churchill port was completed, commercial shipping took many more years to pick up. In 1932, Grant MacEwan was the first person to cross through Churchill customs as a passenger. This was purely due to his determination to take the Hudson Bay route to Saskatchewan from Britain—most passengers returned via

12971-546: The way in which the Ojibwe and the other Indian peoples sought to "use sexual relations as a means of establishing long-term relationships between themselves and people from another society was a rational strategy, one that has been described in many parts of the world". One fur trader who married an Ojibwe woman describes how the Ojibwe would initially shun a fur trader until they could give gauge his honesty and provided he proved himself an honest man, "the chiefs would take together their marriageable girls to his trading house and he

13090-403: The ways of the colonists, hunted to feed global fur markets with little consideration of the possibility of extinction. As competition increased between the English and French in the 16th century, fur also continued to be harvested by Aboriginal tribes, both for their own use and as middleman. All of this combined to cause a severe over-harvesting of beavers. Data from three of the trading posts of

13209-439: The welcoming ceremony: "The women throw themselves backwards on the ground, thinking to give us tokens of friendship and wellcome [welcome]". Radisson was initially confused by this gesture, but as the women started to engage in more overtly sexual behavior, he realized what was being offered. Radisson was informed by the village elders that he could have sex with any unmarried women in the village provided that he did not trade with

13328-409: The wild when the bay freezes over. It is the subject of a poem, Churchill Bear Jail , written by Salish Chief Victor A. Charlo. Thousands of beluga whales , which move into the warmer waters of the Churchill River estuary during July and August to calf, are a significant summer attraction. Polar bears are present as well and can sometimes be seen from boat tours at this time of year. Churchill

13447-517: The winter and sailed one of the expedition's two ships, the sloop Lamprey , back to Denmark. Danish archaeologists in 1964 discovered remains of the abandoned ship, the frigate Unicorn , in the tidal flats some kilometres from the mouth of the river. The discoveries were all taken to Denmark; some are on display at the National Museum in Copenhagen. After an abortive attempt in 1688–89, in 1717,

13566-421: The winter; in the interim, further exchanges often involved both Indian men and women. Fur traders found that marrying the daughters of chiefs would ensure the co-operation of an entire community. Marriage alliances were also made between Indian tribes. In September 1679, the French diplomat and soldier Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut , called a peace conference at Fond du Lac (modern Duluth, Minnesota ) of all

13685-597: The world who are interested in sub-Arctic and Arctic research. The town also has a health centre, several hotels, tour operators, and restaurants; it serves locals and visitors. Churchill is situated along Manitoba's 1,400 km (870 mi) coastline, on Hudson Bay at the meeting of three major biomes : marine, boreal forest and tundra, each supporting a variety of flora and fauna. Each year, 10,000–12,000 eco-tourists visit, about 400–500 of whom are birders. Polar bears were once considered solitary animals that would avoid contact with other bears except for mating. In

13804-566: Was activated as an ionospheric study station by the Royal Canadian Navy in support of the U-boat high-frequency direction finding (HFDF) net and became operational on 1 August 1943. Around 1949, Churchill became part of the Canadian SUPRAD (signals intelligence) network and remained in that role until it closed its doors in 1968. The Operations and Accommodations building remains today but

13923-418: Was given the choice of the lot". If the fur trader married, the Ojibwe would trade with him as he became part of the community, and if he refused to marry, then the Ojibwe would not trade with him as Ojibwe only traded with a man who "took one of their women for his wife". Virtually all Indian communities encouraged fur traders to take an Indian wife in order to build a long-term relationship that would ensure

14042-604: Was primarily built to capitalize on the North American fur trade , out of the reach of York Factory . It dealt mainly with the Chipewyan living north of the boreal forest . Much of the fur came from as far away as Lake Athabasca and the Rocky Mountains . A defensive battery, Cape Merry Battery, was built on the opposite side of the fort to provide protection. As part of the Anglo-French dispute for North America, in 1731–1741,

14161-407: Was that a fur trader was expected to favor whatever clan/kinship network that he had married into with European goods, and a fur trader who did not would ruin his reputation. The Ojibwe, like other tribes, saw all life in this world being based upon reciprocal relationships, with "gifts" of tobacco left behind when harvesting plants to thank nature for providing the plants, while when a bear was killed,

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