Fort Simpson (

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.Dehcho Region The Dehcho Region or ''Deh Cho'' is one of five administrative regions in the Northwest Territories of Canada. According to Municipal and Community Affairs the region consists of six communities with the regional office situated in Fort Simpson. A ...

of the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, Canada. The community is located on an island at the confluence of the

Mackenzie Mackenzie, Mckenzie, MacKenzie, or McKenzie may refer to: People * Mackenzie (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Mackenzie (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Clan Mackenzie, a S ...

and Liard rivers. It is approximately west of

Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...

. Both rivers were traditionally

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...

s for 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 ...

and the native

Dene The Dene people () are an Aboriginal peoples in Canada, indigenous group of First Nations in Canada, First Nations who inhabit the northern Boreal forest of Canada, boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languag ...

people of the area. Fort Simpson is the regional centre of the Dehcho and is the gateway to the scenic

South Nahanni River The South Nahanni River is a major tributary of the Liard River, located roughly west of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the centerpiece of Nahanni National Park Reserve. It flows from the Mackenzie Mountains in the we ...

and the

Nahanni National Park Reserve Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, approximately west of Yellowknife, protects a portion of the Mackenzie Mountains Natural Region. The centrepiece of the park is the South Nahanni River ( ...

. Fort Simpson can be reached by air, water and road and has full secondary and

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

service. The

Mackenzie Highway The Mackenzie Highway is a Canadian highway in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It begins as Alberta Highway 2 at ''Mile Zero'' in Grimshaw, Alberta. After the first , it becomes Alberta Highway 35 for the balance of its lengt ...

was extended to Fort Simpson in 1970-71. The central section of the community is on an island near the south bank of the Mackenzie River, but industrial areas and rural residential areas are located along the highway as far as the

Fort Simpson Airport Fort Simpson Airport is located east southeast of Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, Canada. Airlines and destinations Accidents and incidents *On 26 June 1994, Douglas C-47A C-FROD of Buffalo Airways crashed on approach due to fuel exh ...

, just beyond which is the Liard River ferry crossing.

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 ...

, Fort Simpson 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. In 2016, 890 people identified as

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. Of these the majority, 770, of the residents are

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 ...

with 95

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

and 20

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

. The main languages are South Slavey and English.

History

Fort Simpson was first started as a

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

site in 1803 then named Fort of the Forks. The Village of Fort Simpson was a permanent settlement in July 1822 when the

constructed a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

, naming it for George Simpson, then the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (french: Terre de Rupert), or Prince Rupert's Land (french: Terre du Prince Rupert, link=no), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin; this was further extended from Rupert's Land t ...

. Until 1910 Fort Simpson was "a company town", with some participation by the Anglican and Roman Catholic Missions. The Dené know it as ''Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́'', meaning ''the place where the rivers come together''. It was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

in 1969.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

attempted to visit the community in September 1984 as part of his Canadian tour, but was prevented from landing due to fog; in an address over the radio from

, he promised to visit in the future. He did so in September 1987 near the end of the tour of the United States, making a side trip to Fort Simpson.

Culture

There are two main annual festivals which occur in Fort Simpson. The first which is held in March is known as the "Beavertail Jamboree". This is a winter carnival which includes traditional games, snowmobile races, and talent shows. The other festival is the "Open Sky Festival" which is held annually on or around the

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

long weekend A long weekend is a weekend that is at least three days long (i.e. a three-day weekend), due to a public or unofficial holiday occurring on either the following Monday or preceding Friday. Many countries also have four-day weekends, in which ...

. The Open Sky Festival is a multi-disciplinary arts festival which has occurred annually since 2001. Festival events include musical, theatrical, and other performances as well as traditional Dehcho Dene Crafts, visual arts, new media exhibitions, workshops, and demonstrations. The Open Sky festival is hosted by the Open Sky Creative Society, a multi-disciplinary arts organization serving artists working in the Dehcho region. The

of the community are represented by the

Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation The Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation is a Dene First Nations band government in the Northwest Territories. The band is headquartered in the community of Fort Simpson (Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́), where 764 of its registered membe ...

and the

by Fort Simpson Métis Local 52. Both groups belong to the

Dehcho First Nations The Dehcho First Nations is a tribal council representing the Dene (South Slavey) and Métis people of the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is made up of ten First Nations bands and two Métis Locals. Membership The Deh C ...

.Dehcho First Nations
File:Welcome to Fort Simpson (5878148063).jpg , Welcome to Fort Simpson File:Radio Station, Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories - Station de radio, Fort Simpson (Territoires du Nord-Ouest) (38766481151).jpg , Radio Station, Fort Simpson, circa 1925 File:Fort Simpson - Canada day 2011.jpg, Ehdaa National Historic Site of Canada on Canada Day 2011 File:Lafferty Ferry dry docked for winter.jpg, Lafferty ferry dry docked for winter File:Liard River ferry Lafferty.jpg, Liard River ferry Lafferty

Climate

Fort Simpson has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfc'') with long, cold winters and warm but short summers. July temperatures are unusually warm for such northerly areas, which demonstrates the extreme continental nature of the area's climate. However, the heat quickly turns into long, cold winters when daylight hours turn drastically shorter. Transition seasons are extremely short, and the year is on average dominated by the winter and to a lesser extent, summer. The average monthly temperatures range from in January to in July. Most of the precipitation falls during the summer months. The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Simpson was on 25 July 1994 and 13 July 2014. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 1 February 1947.

Notable residents

* Jim Antoine, eighth premier of the Northwest Territories * William Lafferty, politician, Canadian Forces officer and news paper columnist *

Nick Sibbeston Nick G. Sibbeston (born November 21, 1943) is a Canadian retired politician, serving from 1985 to 1987 as the fourth premier of the Northwest Territories. Sibbeston was a Senator representing the Northwest Territories from 1999 until 2017, when ...

, fourth

premier of the Northwest Territories The premier of the Northwest Territories is the Premier (Canada), first minister and head of government for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories. The premier is the territory's head of government ...

. * Dahti Tsetso,

Tłı̨chǫ The Tłı̨chǫ (, ) people, sometimes spelled Tlicho and also known as the Dogrib, are a Dene First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Name The name ''Dogrib'' ...

environmentalist and educator, born in Fort Simpson

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Communities in the Dehcho Region Dene communities Hudson's Bay Company forts Heritage sites in the Northwest Territories National Historic Sites in the Northwest Territories Populated places on the Mackenzie River Villages in the Northwest Territories