Fort Severn First Nation ( [] in Swampy Cree language, Cree) is a Western Swampy Cree First Nations in Canada, First Nation band government located on

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

and is the most Extreme communities of Canada, northern community in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. In 2001, the population was 401, consisting of 90 families in an area of 40 square kilometres. The legal name of the reserve is Fort Severn 89, with the main settlement of Fort Severn ( []). The town is linked by a winter road, winter/ice road called the Wapusk Trail during the winter to Peawanuck,

, in the east, and

Shamattawa The Shamattawa First Nation ( cr, ᑭᓭᒫᑖᐘ, kisêmâtâwa) () is a Remote community, remote First Nations in Manitoba, First Nations community in Northern Region, Manitoba, northern Manitoba, Canada, located in the Indian reserve, reserve o ...

and

Gillam, Manitoba Gillam is a town on the Nelson River in northern Manitoba, Canada. It is situated between Thompson and Churchill on the Hudson Bay Railway line. Many residents of Gillam are employed by Manitoba Hydro at one of their many facilities or support g ...

, to the west. Fort Severn is

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

d by the

Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service (NAPS), also occasionally known as the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (without a hyphen) is the police agency for Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN). As of July 2020, NAPS has 34 detachments in NAN communities across the ...

, an Indigenous-based service.

History

This area was inhabited for thousands of years by varying cultures of

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. At the time of European contact, the historic Swampy Cree, an Algonquian-speaking people, lived in the area. In 1689 the

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 ...

built Fort Severn at this site, originally naming it Fort James; it was one of the earliest

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

posts in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. After years of international competition between the English and French, with their wars playing out in North America, the French attacked the outpost and pillaged it in 1782 when they were allies of the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. In the early 20th century, when the federal government negotiated a treaty with the First Nations, it set aside land for a native reserve in the Rocksand area at the confluence of the

Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

and Sachigo Rivers, with the consent of the leaders at the time. In 1973, the reserve was relocated to the mouth of the Severn River on

, for more direct access to shipping. The reserve achieved full status on January 11, 1980.

Government

The local band council consists of an elected chief, a deputy chief, and four band councillors.

Community services

There is no hospital in Fort Severn, with medical needs provided either at the local nursing station or via Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telemedicine (KOTM) link. The Community Doctor (Christopher Arthur Giles) travels in every month to do regular check-ups, follow-ups, and schedule appointments and surgeries. Specialists such as optometrists, dentists, and hygienists travel to Fort Severn every two to three months.

Transportation

There are only local roads in town and residents travel by car, snowmobile, four-wheelers, or walking. The

Fort Severn Airport Fort Severn Airport is located northwest of Fort Severn First Nation, Ontario, Canada. Airlines and destinations Accidents and incidents *On 25 September 1975, Douglas C-47A The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF ...

is located a short distance from the settlement and is reached by an access road.

Education

Wasaho Cree Nation School is the full functioning school providing primary education needs. It was built in 2016, preparing students for 21st century learning. Keewaytinook Internet High School is housed in a small building and provides distance learning for residents needing secondary education.

Climate

Fort Severn has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

( Dfc) and is one of the coldest communities in Ontario. Summers typically have cool to mild weather with short heatwaves, while winters are severely cold and long, lasting from October to sometimes through May.

In popular culture

Fort James, a British settlement controlled by a governor who reports to the king and who represents Hudson Bay Company, is the principal setting of the 2016 TV series, ''Frontier''. As Ann Foster describes for ScreenerTV, "'Frontier' is set in the coastal settlement of Fort James: A snowy, treacherous pocket of land that would, in a century’s time, become part of Canada." A town by the name of Fort Severn is featured in several episodes of the 1996 anime series ''

After War Gundam X , is a 1996 Japanese anime television series and the seventh installment in the long running ''Gundam'' franchise that started in 1979, but takes place in an alternate timeline called . The series has 39 episodes, aired in Japan from April ...

''.

References

Fort Severn First NationStats Canada

{{authority control Populated places on Hudson Bay Cree reserves in Ontario Communities in Kenora District Nishnawbe Aski Nation Hudson's Bay Company forts Road-inaccessible communities of Ontario Swampy Cree