Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

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 ...

, located in the

Kenora District Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City of Kenora. It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at , it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it large ...

. It is located on the eastern shores of

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (french: Lac des Bois, oj, Pikwedina Sagainan) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,55 ...

along

Ontario Highway 71 King's Highway 71, commonly referred to as Highway 71, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route begins at the Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge in Fort Frances, continuing from U ...

. The township was formed in 2001 by amalgamating the formerly incorporated Township of Sioux Narrows with portions of

Unorganized Kenora District Unorganized Kenora District is an unorganized area in northwestern Ontario, Canada, in Kenora District. Constituting 98.39 percent of the district's land area, yet only 10.93 percent of its population, it is essentially the remainder of the distri ...

, including the community of Nestor Falls. The township had a population of 720 in the Canada 2011 Census.

Communities

Sioux Narrows is a small resort community located on the shores of

where Highway 71 crosses the eponymous narrows between Whitefish and Regina Bay. There are about 300 permanent residents, and about double that in the summer time when cottagers from

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 ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

come for vacation. Tourism is the primary industry, with many resorts in the nearby vicinity. In the mid-18th century, an Ojibwa-Cree alliance is said to have defeated an invading party of

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

at a narrows here on the lake. Sioux Narrows is named in recognition of that event. The

Sioux Narrows Bridge The Sioux Narrows Bridge is a bridge on Highway 71 at Sioux Narrows, Ontario, which spans the Sioux Narrows strait between Regina Bay and Whitefish Bay on Lake of the Woods.designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the sta ...

in the Canada 2006 Census, and has a population of 290. The settlement was founded in the early 20th century by a certain Mr. Nestor who started logging operations and used the natural waterfall there to transport the logs to Lake of the Woods. File:Sioux Narrows ON.JPG, Town centre of Sioux Narrows File:Nestor Falls ON.JPG, Nestor Falls

History

The area was originally home to

Ojibway The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

and

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

indigenous people. In the 18th century,

began to be exploited by European fur traders as a good source for fur and it became part of an established trade route from the Rainy River to

Rat Portage Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

. The main trading posts were set up at Rainy River and

Fort Frances Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Cham ...

, but circa 1804, an outpost was also established on Whitefish Lake (now known as Regina Bay, directly east of Sioux Narrows) by the

Northwest Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great wealt ...

. In the 1820s, the area was surveyed in order to determine the international border between the United States and British North America. But further development was limited since the Ojibway restricted European travelers only to the regular trade routes. In 1873, the Dominion of Canada signed

Treaty 3 ''Treaty 3'' was an agreement entered into on October 3, 1873, by Chief Mikiseesis (Little Eagle) on behalf of the Ojibwe First Nations and Queen Victoria. The treaty involved a vast tract of Ojibwe territory, including large parts of what is ...

, in which the Ojibway ceded vast tracts of territory to the Government of Canada. This permitted the first wave of settlers to arrive in the late 1870s or early 1880s. The construction of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

in 1881 further accelerated exploration, settlement, logging, and mining. The outpost on Whitefish Lake, since 1821 owned by 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 ...

, was taken over by a private entrepreneur in the 1890s and operated until 1932. In 1895, a gold mine opened on Regina Bay, employing about eighty-five men and led to the formation of a settlement with a schoolhouse, miner's residences and a community hall. The mine was fully operational only until 1900 and thereafter operated intermittently. During that period until 1935, settlement remained sporadic and isolated, heavily dependent on the cyclical presence of mining and logging camps, and only accessible by boat or winter roads. The construction of what is now known as

in the 1930s resulted in permanent communities and opened the area to a booming outdoor tourism industry. In the late 1930s the Nestor Falls Post Office was merged with the

Kakagi Lake Kakagi Lake, also known as Crow Lake, is a lake in both Unorganized Kenora District and the township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls, Kenora District, in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. It is just north of the community of Nestor Falls, and right acr ...

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

and placed five miles south of Dalseg's store to accommodate commercial shipping trucks and buses travelling on the new highway.

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 ...

, Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Historic populations:Statistics Canada: Canada 1996 Census * Population in 2011: 720 * Population in 2006: 672 * Population in 2001: 577 * Population total in 1996: 794 ** Sioux Narrows (township): 430 * Population in 1991: ** Sioux Narrows (township): 390

References

External links

* {{Kenora District Municipalities in Kenora District Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Township municipalities in Ontario

Communities

History

Demographics

See also

References

External links