God's Lake Narrows is a community located in northeastern

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

in Canada. The community is located on the shores of

Gods Lake Gods Lake is a lake in northeastern Manitoba in Canada. The lake covers an area of with a net (water surface) area of , making it the 7th largest lake in the province. It lies north of Island Lake (Manitoba), Island Lake at an elevation of , ap ...

, which is the 7th largest lake in the province. God's Lake has a maximum depth of 75 meters. Located 550 km northeast of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, the community is accessible by air, boat, and b
winter roads
(see map)

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Gods Lake Narrows had a population of 141 living in 57 of its 69 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 89. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Website

The community is the subject of an interactive documentary, '' God's Lake Narrows'', by artist and filmmaker

Kevin Lee Burton Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

, who was born in the community, co-created by NFB producer Alicia Smith. ''God's Lake Narrows'' utilizes photos of the community by

Scott Benesiinaabandan Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskat ...

, a Manitoba-based

Anishinabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi ...

artist. Benesiinaabandan's photos had originally been displayed in a Winnipeg gallery.

Christine Fellows Christine Fellows (born 1968) is a Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba. History Born in Windsor, Ontario and raised in France and Kelowna, British Columbia, Fellows lived in Toronto, Vancouver, Guelph and Montreal befor ...

did sound design for the project, which was produced in Winnipeg by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

. The website consists of 26 slides which alternate between photographs and text. Viewers can navigate the website by clicking on arrows embedded on each page. In May 2012, ''God's Lake Narrows'' received the

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

for best use of photography. It was also nominated for individual episode in the online film and video category. The website project grew out of Burton and Caroline Monnet's installation piece RESERVE(d) which was shown in Winnipeg at the Shaman Urban Gallery in 2010. The installation included sound, film, photography, and archival images of Burton's grandmother. It was designed to create an intimate community that mirrored a "reserve reality." Alicia Smith, a producer at the National Film Board, was one of the guests invited to the installation at the gallery. She worked together with Burton to write and create the online version after her experience. The website builds Indigenous guest protocol into its structure. It follows the principle of hospitality, the Cree miyo-wîcêhtowin, "the principle of getting along well with others, good relations, expanding the circle," and hospitality, "the act or practice of being hospitable; the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, with liberality and goodwill". The God's Lake Narrows website begins by allowing viewers to see the exterior of the homes; it then invites them inside. However, before viewers are allowed inside of the homes and lives of these Indigenous families, they must learn about their community.

References

External links

''God’s Lake Narrows''
at the

*Welcome to God's Lake Narrow

*Screen Sovereignty: Understanding God's Lake Narrows as an Indigenous-Controlled Space

* {{MBDivision22 Designated places in Manitoba Northern communities in Manitoba Unincorporated communities in Northern Region, Manitoba