lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in
Mackenzie County
Mackenzie County is a specialized municipality in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 17, along the Mackenzie Highway. The municipal office is located in the hamlet of Fort Vermilion.
History
Originally ''Improvement ...
, in north-western
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
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 ...
.
Major Ernest Wilson Hubbell, Chief Inspector of the
Dominion Land Survey
The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; french: links=no, arpentage des terres fédérales, ATF) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout ...
, recorded the name "Zammah River" in his field notes as the transliteration of the name of a Slavey Chief (Slavey Indians are now known as the
Dene Tha' First Nation
The Dene Thá (/'tɛnɛ ðɑː/) First Nation is a First Nations government of the South Slavey in Northern Alberta, Canada. The people call themselves Dene Dháa (sometimes spelled Dene Tha' or Dene Th'a) or 'Ordinary People' in the Dene Dháh l ...
). The Geographic Board of Canada recorded the name "Zama River" on 4 July 1922 without explanation for the spelling change. The lake seems to be named in the same fashion and was named on 6 November 1944. The Dene Tha' do not use the name "Zama Lake", but use names in the
Slavey language
Slavey (; also Slave, Slavé) is a group of Athabaskan languages and a dialect continuum spoken amongst the Dene peoples of Canada in the Northwest Territories – or central Denendeh – where it also has official status.Rainbow Lake and west northwest of
High Level
High Level is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located at the intersection of the Mackenzie Highway (Highway 35) and Highway 58, approximately north of Edmonton and south of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. High Level is located w ...
, at the confluence of
Zama River
Zama or Zamá may refer to:
Places
*Zama City, Alberta, Canada
*Zama Lake, Alberta, Canada
*Zama, Kanagawa, Japan
**Camp Zama, a United States Army base in Kanagawa, Japan
*Tulum or Zamá, Mexico
*Zama (Tunisia)
*Zama (Turkey)
*Zama, Mississippi, ...
and Hay River. The lake covers and forms an intricate river, lakes, and wetland system. The Hay-Zama Lakes complex is a
Ramsar Ramsar may refer to:
* Places so named:
** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran
** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India
* Eponyms of the Iranian city:
** Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran
** Ramsar site, wetland listed in ...
site for its importance to spring and fall migrating
duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...
s and
geese
A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...
. As many as 250,000 ducks and geese use the lakes during the fall migration.
A small hamlet,
Zama City
Zama City is a hamlet in northwestern Alberta, Canada within Mackenzie County.
It is located north of Zama Lake along Zama Road, which branches off the Mackenzie Highway (Highway 35) approximately north of High Level.
The hamlet is located in ...
is located approximately north of the lake and the unincorporated community of Chateh in the
Hay Lake 209
Hay Lake 209 is an Indian reserve of the Dene Tha' First Nation in Alberta, located within Mackenzie County
Mackenzie County is a specialized municipality in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 17, along the Mackenzie H ...
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty,
that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band."
Ind ...
of the Dene Tha' First Nation is also located south of the lake.