Cree Lake is a lake in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Canada. The lake is the fourth largest in the province and is located west of

Reindeer Lake Reindeer Lake is a lake in western Canada located on the border between north-eastern Saskatchewan and north-western Manitoba, with the majority in Saskatchewan. The name of the lake appears to be a translation of the Algonquian name. It is ...

and south of

Lake Athabasca Lake Athabasca (; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , "herethere are plants one after another") is located in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake ...

. There is no

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

access, but the lake is reachable by

float plane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, m ...

. Cree Lake (Crystal Lodge) Airport (bush strip) and Cree Lake (Crystal Lodge) Water Aerodrome serve Crystal Lodge, a fly-in fishing lodge.

Cree Lake settlements

Dene The Dene people () are an Aboriginal peoples in Canada, indigenous group of First Nations in Canada, First Nations who inhabit the northern Boreal forest of Canada, boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languag ...

settlement with an airport was located on the south-west shore of the lake (at coordinates ). It may have been the location of a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

trading post from 1891 to 1902. In 1971 there were 36 residents (22 were First Nations). Another settlement was located at the north-east end of the lake near the Cree River outflow. In the 1960s it had an airport, a small log church and numerous houses (near co-ordinates ). A fish plant on Turner Island was built in 1957 by Waite Fisheries and is located at co-ordinates . Other locations on Cree Lake with populations in the 1970s were the Cree Lake Weather Station in the south-west at the entrance to Cable Bay and airfield (with 10 people) operated by the Canadian Government, the Cree Lake D.N.S. Radio Station (Department of Northern Saskatchewan) on Turner Island (with 10 people) and a camp at the north-end (with 15 people). Although officially named Cree Lake in 1938 the lake lies in the traditional territory of the

and the

English River Dene Nation The English River Dene Nation is a Dene First Nation band government in Patuanak, Saskatchewan, Canada. Their reserve is in the northern section of the province. Its territories are in the boreal forest of the Canadian Shield. This First Nation is ...

based in

Patuanak Patuanak is a community in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dene First Nations reserve near Churchill River and the north end of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse. In Dene, it sounds similar to ''Boni Cheri'' (Bëgh ...

has reserves at three sites on the lake. One site on the south west side of the lake is 1607.40 hectares (3971 acres) another on Cable Bay is 538.30 hectares (1350 acres) and another on Barkwell Bay at the northern end of Cree Lake is 2344 hectares (5792 acres).

Fish species

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

species include

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...

cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments di ...

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Misso ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii)'' is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is commonl ...

and

longnose sucker The longnose sucker (''Catostomus catostomus'') is a species of cypriniform freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It is native to North America from the northern United States to the top of the continent. It is also found in Russia in rive ...

Islands

The lake has several named and unnamed islands. Some of the named islands include: *

Auriat Island Auriat Island is a small island within Cree Lake in the northern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The island is named after Jean Auriat who was a Canadian soldier in the North Shore New Brunswick Regiment during World War II. H ...

Cowie Island Cowie Island is a small island in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, surrounded by Cree Lake Cree Lake is a lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. The lake is the fourth largest in the province and is located west of Reindeer Lake and south of Lake Athabasc ...

Dahl Island Dahl may refer to: *Dal (or dahl, or dhal), a dish or preparation of lentils or other pulses Places Germany * Hagen-Dahl, Hagen, Ruhrgebiet *Kürten-Dahl, Kürten, Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis *Marienheide-Dahl, Marienheide, Oberbergischer Kreis *M ...

Davies Island Davies is a patronymic surname of English or Welsh origin. There are two main theories concerning its beginnings, neither of which has been definitively proven. The first theory contends that it may be a corruption of "Dyfed", the name of a medie ...

Dixon Island (Saskatchewan) Dixon Island is an island of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, in the territory of Nunavut. It lies in the Franklin Strait The Franklin Strait is an Arctic waterway in Northern Canada's territory of Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇ� ...

Fleming Island (Saskatchewan) Fleming Island is a small island in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada; surrounded by Cree Lake Cree Lake is a lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. The lake is the fourth largest in the province and is located west of Reindeer Lake and south of Lake Athaba ...

* Ispatinow Island - (containing Cree Lake (Crystal Lodge) Airport and Crystal Lodge) *

Johns Island (Saskatchewan) Johns Island is a small island in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada; surrounded by Cree Lake Cree Lake is a lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. The lake is the fourth largest in the province and is located west of Reindeer Lake and south of Lake Athabasc ...

* Keeping Island * Laurier Island * Pelletier Island * Prowse Island * Ring Island * Rogers Island (Saskatchewan) * Turner Island (Saskatchewan)

References

External links

*
Fish Species of Saskatchewan
Lakes of Saskatchewan Hudson's Bay Company trading posts {{Saskatchewan-geo-stub

Cree Lake settlements

Fish species

Islands

See also

References

External links