Cree Lake | |
---|---|
Location | Saskatchewan |
Coordinates | 57°30′N106°30′W / 57.500°N 106.500°W |
Lake type | glacial lake |
Part of | Mackenzie River drainage basin |
Primary outflows | Cree River |
Catchment area | 4,468 km2 (1,725 sq mi) |
Basin countries | Canada |
Surface area | 1,152 km2 (445 sq mi) |
Average depth | 14.9 m (49 ft) |
Max. depth | 60 m (200 ft) |
Water volume | 17.6 km3 (4.2 cu mi) |
Shore length1 | 786 km (488 mi) |
Surface elevation | 487 m (1,598 ft) |
References | [2] |
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. |
Cree Lake is a lake in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The lake is the fourth largest in the province and is located west of Reindeer Lake and south of Lake Athabasca. [3] There is no highway access, but the lake is reachable by float plane.
Cree Lake (Crystal Lodge) Airport (bush strip) and Cree Lake (Crystal Lodge) Water Aerodrome serve Crystal Lodge, a fly-in fishing lodge.
A Dene settlement with an airport was located on the south-west shore of the lake (at coordinates 57°21′15.19″N107°7′41.52″W / 57.3542194°N 107.1282000°W ). It may have been the location of a Hudson's Bay Company trading post from 1891 to 1902. [4] In 1971 there were 36 residents (22 were First Nations). [5] Another settlement was located at the north-east end of the lake near the Cree River outflow. In the 1960s it had an airport, a small log church and numerous houses (near co-ordinates 57°42′39″N106°15′49″W / 57.71083°N 106.26361°W ). [6] [7] A fish plant on Turner Island was built in 1957 by Waite Fisheries and is located at co-ordinates 57°23′57″N106°40′10″W / 57.39917°N 106.66944°W .
Other locations on Cree Lake with populations in the 1970s were the Cree Lake Weather Station in the south-west at the entrance to Cable Bay and airfield (with 10 people) operated by the Canadian Government, the Cree Lake D.N.S. Radio Station (Department of Northern Saskatchewan) on Turner Island (with 10 people) and a camp at the north-end (with 15 people). [5]
Although officially named Cree Lake in 1938, [8] the lake lies in the traditional territory of the Dene and the English River Dene Nation based in Patuanak has reserves at three sites on the lake. One site on the south-west side of the lake is 1,607.40 ha (3,972.0 acres) another on Cable Bay is 538.30 ha (1,330.2 acres) and another on Barkwell Bay at the northern end of Cree Lake is 2,344 ha (5,790 acres). [9]
Fish species include walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, lake trout, lake whitefish, cisco, burbot, Arctic grayling, white sucker, and longnose sucker. [10]
The lake has several named and unnamed islands. Some of the named islands include:
The Chipewyan are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified with the Taltheilei Shale archaeological tradition. They are part of the Northern Athabascan group of peoples, and hail from what is now Western Canada.
The Churchill River is a major river in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. From the head of the Churchill Lake it is 1,609 kilometres (1,000 mi) long. It was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1685 to 1691. The Cree name for the river is Missinipi, meaning "big waters". The Denesuline name for the river is des nëdhë́, meaning "Great River".
The Fond du Lac River is one of the upper branches of the Mackenzie River system, draining into the Arctic Ocean, located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The river is 277 kilometres (172 mi) long, has a watershed of 66,800 km2 (25,800 sq mi), and its mean discharge is 300 m3/s (11,000 cu ft/s).
First Nations in Manitoba constitute of over 160,000 registered persons as of 2021, about 57% of whom live on reserve. Manitoba is second to Ontario in total on-reserve population and in total First Nation population.
Wasagamack First Nation is an Oji-Cree First Nation band government in Manitoba, Canada. As of December 2014 the registered population of the Wasagamack First Nation was 2,017, of which 1,823 lived on their own reserve.
Brochet is an unincorporated community located in Northern Manitoba on the northern shore of Reindeer Lake near the Saskatchewan border; it is designated as a northern community.
Patuanak is a community in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dene First Nations reserve near Churchill River and the north end of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse. In Dene, it sounds similar to Boni Cheri (Bëghą́nı̨ch’ërë).
St. Theresa Point First Nation is a First Nations community in northern Manitoba. It has 3 reserves in total, the largest and most populated of which is St. Theresa Point, which is bordered by the unorganized portion of Division No. 22, Manitoba, and by the Wasagamack First Nation.
Wollaston Lake is a lake in the north-eastern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is about 550 kilometres (340 mi) north-east of Prince Albert. With a surface area of 2,286 square kilometres (883 sq mi), it is the largest bifurcation lake in the world — that is, a lake that drains naturally in two directions.
Carrot River is a river in Western Canada in the north-eastern part Saskatchewan and the north-western part of Manitoba. The outlet of Wakaw Lake in Saskatchewan marks the beginning of the Carrot River and, from there, it flows north-east past several communities and Indian reserves until it joins the Saskatchewan River in the Cumberland Delta in Manitoba. The river's mouth is west and upstream of the Pasquia River and The Pas on the Saskatchewan River.
The Sayisi Dene are Dene Suline peoples, a Dene group, living in northern Manitoba. They are members of the Sayisi Dene First Nation, located at Tadoule Lake, and are notable for living a nomadic caribou-hunting and gathering existence. They are the most eastern of all the Dene peoples.
The Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) is a tribal council representing nine First Nation band governments in the province of Saskatchewan. The council is based in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan.
Doré Lake is a lake in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the basin of the Beaver River. Doré is the French Canadian term for 'walleye'. The lake is north-west of Smoothstone Lake and the Waskesiu Upland in the Mid-Boreal Upland ecozone of Canada and is surrounded by boreal forests. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan's largest city, is about 328 kilometres (204 mi) to the south. The northern village of Dore Lake is located on South Bay and is accessed from Highway 924 and Dore Lake Airport.
Pinehouse is a northern village located in the boreal forest of Saskatchewan on the western shore of Pinehouse Lake within the Canadian Shield.
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Ispatinow Island is an island in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada; the largest island on Cree Lake. The Cree Lake Airport is located on the island, owned and operated by Crystal Lodge Cree Lake; primarily supporting Crystal Lodge, a seasonal fly-in lodge located on the island.
Barren Lands First Nation is a First Nation located on the north shore of Reindeer Lake in northern Manitoba close to the Saskatchewan border. It has one reserve land called Brochet 197, which is 4,339.40 ha in size and adjoins the village of Brochet, Manitoba.
The English River Dene Nation is a Dene First Nation band government in Patuanak, Saskatchewan, Canada. Their reserve is in the northern section of the province. Its territories are in the boreal forest of the Canadian Shield. This First Nation is a member of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC).
Lake Athapapuskow is a glacial lake in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada, located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southeast of Flin Flon, Manitoba. The lake is in the Hudson Bay drainage basin and is the source of the Goose River.
Geikie River is a river in the northern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The river's source is Costigan Lake, which is near the uranium producing areas around the Key Lake mine in the Athabasca Basin. It flows in a north-easterly direction and flows into Wollaston Lake.