South Indian Lake is an Indian settlement located on the southeast shore of

Southern Indian Lake Southern Indian Lake is a large lake in northern Manitoba, Canada. It has an area of (including islands) with a surface elevation of . Southern Indian Lake is the fourth largest lake in Manitoba. It has a complex shoreline with many islands, l ...

northern Manitoba Northern Manitoba (also known as NorMan or Nor-Man) is a geographic and cultural region of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Originally encompassing a small square around the Red River Colony, the province was extended north to the 60th paral ...

, Canada, about north of the city of

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

by air. It had a population of 981 in 2016, and is the main settlement of the

O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation The O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation ( cr, ᐅᐱᐴᓇᐱᐏᐣ, opiponipîwin) is a First Nations band government with over 1,500 Cree registered members centred in the settlement of South Indian Lake in Manitoba, Canada. South Indian Lake is loca ...

, a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

band government.

Access

The lake and the settlement are accessed by the South Indian Lake Airport and Manitoba Provincial Road 493 (Pr493). Pr493. a gravel road, begins at

Leaf Rapids Leaf Rapids is a town in north west Manitoba, Canada. The town was developed as an experimental model; a model that other northern communities could replicate as they strove for modern convenience and luxury in a northern environment. The communit ...

on the PR 391 (also a gravel road) and runs northeast to its terminus at South Indian Lake. The nearest city, Thompson, is by road.

History

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 di ...

established an important fur-trading post at South Indian Lake in 1803. In the 1960s, the South Indian Lake settlement were self-supporting, having achieved economic independence through fishing and trapping. The average combined household income was $5,000, compared to $500 for most northern First Nations communities, according to studies commissioned by the Manitoba Development Authority. The population was 480 with 76.6% treaty Indians and 21.3% were “non-treaty Indian and Métis."

The Churchill River Diversion and the relocation of the South Indian Lake community

In 1967, the Manitoba Development Authority received assessment studies related to the inevitable relocation of the South Indian Lake community due to planned flooding caused by

Manitoba Hydro The Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board, operating as Manitoba Hydro, is the electric power and natural gas utility in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1961, it is a provincial Crown Corporation, governed by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Boa ...

's Churchill River Diversion (CRD) which would divert water into the

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 ...

at Southern Indian Lake. This would flood the area around the southeast shore of the settlement. The CRD would "increase the water flow to... large generating stations on the lower Nelson River". A May 1967 report by Van Ginkel Associates "assessed the relocation site for the community and included a proposed plan which outlined economic, social, and educational programmes to be integrated along with the physical development of the region". The Van Ginkel Associates report said that "relocation would necessarily negatively disrupt" the way of life of the South Indian Lake settlement. The consultants "were confident that the era of remote northern communities, such as the community of South Indian Lake, was rapidly coming to an end...The communities of native people that exist throughout Manitoba...have no future and … the interest of the native people of the total community will be gravely prejudiced if those resources of money and creative thought are not dedicated to solving the problem of the remote Indian settlement and the Indian reservation." The CRD raised the water level of

by , which forced the community of 500 people to relocate. According to a 2015 Manitoba Clean Environment Commission (CECM) report, the Van Ginkel Associates plan was never implemented.

References

External links

Map of South Indian Lake at Statcan
{{coord, 56, 46, 49, N, 98, 55, 49, W, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Indian settlements in Manitoba Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Populated places in Northern Region, Manitoba