Moose Lake is a lake located near the

Saskatchewan River delta The Saskatchewan River Delta (SRD) is a large alluvial delta that straddles the border of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in south-central Canada. Currently terminating at Cedar Lake, Manitoba, the delta is composed mainly of various t ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is separated into two irregularly shaped lobes, North Moose Lake and South Moose Lake, by the Moose Lake Narrows Control Structure, which was built in 1964. South Moose Lake drains south into Cedar Lake via Moose Creek; these two lakes form the

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

of the Grand Rapids Generating Station, and the sluice gates at Moose Lake Narrows helps regulate their water levels. The lake as a whole lies at an elevation of and covers . The community of Moose Lake is located on the south shore of the lake.

Human activity

A portage between the eastern end of South Moose Lake and the source of the Minago River was used by fur traders to travel between the Saskatchewan and

Nelson River The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay. Its full length (including the Saskatchewan River and Bow River) is , i ...

s. Most if not all of the semi-nomadic Cree who originally frequented the area around Moose Lake died in a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

epidemic during the winter of 1781–1782. The area was subsequently settled by

Swampy Cree The Swampy Cree people, also known by their autonyms ''Néhinaw'', ''Maskiki Wi Iniwak'', ''Mushkekowuk,'' ''Maškékowak'' or ''Maskekon'' (and therefore also ''Muskegon'' and ''Muskegoes'') or by exonyms including ''West Main Cree,'' ''Lowlan ...

migrating from the east. Today, logging, fishing and trapping are practiced in the Moose Lake area. Tom Lamb operated a cattle ranch at Moose Lake from 1953 to 1964, when flooding of the area by the Grand Rapids hydroelectric project forced its closure. The building of the Grand Rapids Dam caused the inundation of 66% of the territory held by the Moose Lake Cree, with correspondingly and predictably disastrous consequences for the community: previously important economic activities such as moose hunting were eliminated, and substance abuse among children, crime, and alcoholism had become rampant by the late 1970s. A

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

for damages caused by the Grand Rapids project was signed by the Mosakahiken Cree Nation and the province of Manitoba in 2008.

References

{{authority control Lakes of Manitoba