Ɂejëre Kʼelnı Kuę́ 196I, also known as Hay Camp, is an

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined 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." ...

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. The reserve is one of ten reserves under the governance of the

Smith's Landing First Nation Smith's Landing First Nation () is a band government headquartered at Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada. Members of the band call themselves, in the Dene Suline language, the Thebati Dene Suhne. The film ''Honor of the Crown,'' directed ...

, known in their language as the Dene Ch'anie. The reserve is located on the west bank of

Slave River The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the and Peace River in northeastern Alberta and runs into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river's name is thought to derive from the name for the Slavey g ...

within

Wood Buffalo National Park Wood Buffalo National Park is the largest national park of Canada at . It is in northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories. Larger in area than Switzerland, it is the second-largest national park in the world. The park was estab ...

, and comprises . Ɂejëre Kʼelnı Kuę́ 196I is approximately north of

Fort Chipewyan Fort Chipewyan , commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is an unincorporated hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada, within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. History Fort Chipewyan is one of the oldest European settlements in the Provi ...

, and south of

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories Fort Smith ( "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 ...

. An all-weather road, named Hay Camp Road, connects the reserve to Fort Smith and

Fitzgerald Fitzgerald may refer to: People * Fitzgerald (surname), a surname * Fitzgerald Hinds, Trinidadian politician * Fitzgerald Toussaint (born 1990), former American football running back Place Australia * Fitzgerald River National Park, a nati ...

Name and etymology

The name ʔejëre K’elnı Kuę́ comes from the

Dënesųłiné The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene group of Indigenous Canadian people belonging to the Athabaskan language family, whose ancest ...

(Chipewyan) language of the

. It is properly spelled with a capital ʔ character, which represents a glottal stop in many Canadian First Nations languages. Because this character is not found on most Canadian keyboards, it is sometimes transcribed as a ?, P, or 7. Variant spellings include Ejere K'elni Kue, ?Ejere K'elni Kue, ɂejere K'elni Kųe, and Pejere Kʼelni Kue. The first mentions of "Hay Camp" come from the turn of the 20th century, reflecting the area's status as one of many hay meadows and stopping-places along the Peace and Slave Rivers. The earliest period literature refers to the site as "Russell's Hay Camp", probably established in the 1890's by Jack Russell, a

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

riverman.

History

Before the advent of air travel, the

was the primary transportation corridor through the region, and ʔejëre K’elnı Kuę́, then known as Hay Camp, served as an important stopping place between

and Fort Smith. Most notably, though,

was established in 1922, and Hay Camp was chosen as the residence of the Chief Park Warden. As the park's superintendent then performed most of his duties from

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Hay Camp thus served as its ''de facto'' administrative center. As early as 1923, the meadows around Hay Camp were being cut to provide winter feed for the park wardens' horses, and by the spring of 1925 a house, stable, and warehouse had been constructed on the site. In 1952, it was decided to conduct the park's annual buffalo slaughter at a permanent abattoir in Hay Camp, and to sell the meat commercially. By this time, most of the park's administrative functions had moved to Fort Smith. When the abattoir closed in 1967, Hay Camp gradually lost its importance as an operational headquarters. In the 1970s and 1980s, the site served as a fire base, but this was closed in 1992, the base moving to Pine Lake elsewhere in the park. In 1994, a decision was made to remove all man-made structures and debris from Hay Camp, returning the site to a "natural state". By 1995, Hay Camp had been entirely abandoned. The last remaining structures, the cabin and fire tower, were removed in 1999. When the

(SLFN) was established on May 6, 2000, the band was entitled to select certain lands to serve as reserve sites, and Hay Camp was one such location. As a result, the site officially became known as ʔejëre K’elnı Kuę́, and was removed from the jurisdiction of the Park. Throughout the 20th century, many of the SLFN's people had worked for the various Park operations at Hay Camp. In a co-management agreement, both the SLFN and Parks Canada have stated their intent to collaboratively interpret the site's history.

References

Indian reserves in Alberta Wood Buffalo National Park {{DEFAULTSORT:Ɂejere Kʼelni Kue 196I