Pioneers of Canada - Northwest Territories

Pictured right:YOOP Yukon Order of Pioneers

Back row: Gordon Bettles, Pete McDonald, Barney Hill, Frank Buteau, Geo Matlock, Al Mayo, John Nelson, Billy Loyd, J.O'Donnel, L. LaFlem

Center: Jas Kenedy, H. Scales, Pete Nelson

Front row: H. Hamilton Hart, Bill McPhee, N. Picotte, L.N. McQuesten, Frank Boker, Harry Rivers, Jo Navarro

History

Before Europeans arrived and began to engage in trade with the Aboriginal population of what is now known as the NWT, the area was populated by small groups of Aboriginal peoples (such as Inuit and Dene). These groups — the Inuit often being nomadic and located in far northern areas — had lived for generations in the harsh climatic conditions of the region, supporting themselves through hunting and fishing. These traditional lifestyles were altered with the arrival of European settlers and traders, but Aboriginal peoples never disappeared from the territory.

Exploration

The first known European explorers to visit today's NWT were the Vikings, who sailed to the Eastern Arctic from their Greenland settlements (ca. 1000 CE). In 1576 Martin Frobisher was the first of a series of European explorers seeking the Northwest Passage, but, by the early 16th century, the severe ice conditions and the limitations of the ships checked much farther advance.
In 1770–71 Samuel Hearne of the Hudson Bay Company made a remarkable overland trip from Churchill through the arctic mainland to the Coppermine River. Though the company used the Hudson Bay route, its interests were farther inland on the continent.
Alexander MacKenzie of the North West Company pushed north from Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca in 1789 to follow what became known as the Mackenzie River to its mouth. Fur trade posts were soon established along his route and in tributary areas, and were subsequently taken over by the Hudson’s Bay Company. Later exploration in the Arctic Archipelago focused on a renewed search for a Northwest Passage in the first part of the 19th century, and on attempts to reach the geographic North Pole in the latter part, a journey finally completed by the American R.E. Peary in 1909. The disappearance of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition led to the addition of much map information by the search expeditions and included the traverse of the elusive passage in 1853 by Sir Robert McClure (though the first traverse by ship was in 1903–04 by Roald Amundsen). Later British and American expeditions proceeding up the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island explored the eastern Queen Elizabeth Islands. The Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup discovered most of the remaining islands to the northwest at the turn of the 20th century, with Vilhjalmur Stefansson completing discoveries between 1913 and 1918.

Settlement

When the NWT was acquired by the Canadian government in 1870, there was already a population of 150,000 Aboriginal people living there. The fur trade posts provided the only nuclei of non-Aboriginal settlement in the NWT until relatively recently. Missions were established near the posts along the Mackenzie River in the latter part of the 19th century. Pressure from Anglo-Canadians, along with the shifting patterns of game due to increased development, forced many Métis farther north throughout the 1870s and 1880, and after the Red River Rebellion led by Louis Riel in 1869–70. This displacement, and the anger produced by the government’s failure to take into account First Nations and Métis voices in government, led to the failed Northwest Rebellion of 1885, the hanging of RIEL and the resettlement of many people into northern Canada.
The federal presence was represented in these small settlements after the turn of the century by the RCMP, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals radio stations and by other agencies. Strategic water transportation sites, such as Fort Smith and Tuktoyaktuk, provided other attractions for limited settlement. Because of its easier accessibility and more varied resources, more incomers trickled into the Mackenzie Valley than the Arctic. In 1921 the federal government also signed its last numbered treaty, Treaty 11, with the Aboriginal peoples north of Great Slave Lake. Treaty 11 was spurred by the enthusiasm caused by the discovery of oil at Fort Norman in 1920. The government sent a treaty commission to the Lower Mackenzie River valley to open the territory for easier, further resource exploration. As with the other numbered treaties, Treaty 11 guaranteed certain rights, such as Aboriginal hunting and trapping rights, yet the federal government often ignored these rights and interpreted them as being subject to government regulation. Beginning in the 1930s mineral exploration aided by bush pilots and their improved aircraft, along with more European hunters, resulted in a significant influx of newcomers, even into the Arctic mainland. The interwar years saw the rise of disease and the decline of traditional ways of life among the Aboriginal populations as the new mining industry brought settlers to the region. The availability of hunting game was disrupted, coinciding with a decline in federal funding to the NWT during the Great Depression.

Development

In recent decades major change and development in the NWT have resulted from international and national political events, widespread social change, large-scale resource demands and the availability of improved technology. As early as the Second World War, the impact of international hostilities was felt in Mackenzie Valley settlements through the Canol Pipeline and in the southern part of the Eastern Arctic through the North East Staging Route airports. The Cold War resulted in DEW line radar stations (see Early Warning Radar) being built across the Arctic and contributed to the introduction of the first permanent settlements in the Queen Elizabeth Islands as part of the Joint Arctic Weather Stations project (see High Arctic Weather Stations).
Following the Second World War, economic conditions in the NWT began to deteriorate as fur prices declined and the Hudson’s Bay Company began closing posts. Inuit communities began living around military stations for security and access to resources. The conditions were miserable. The government’s response was to relocate the Inuit to best suit their administrative needs, and to facilitate the delivery of services. This process significantly disrupted kinship bonds and furthered the decline of traditional game hunting. In some cases, the Inuit who were chosen to be relocated were deceived by the government with regard to families being kept intact and where they were going to be resettled. In recent years, the Inuit in this area have begun to demand recognition of their unique role in the protection of Canadian sovereignty. In 1953, the federal government assumed increased responsibility for the territory with the creation of the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources (now the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development). Major improvements were made in health services, housing, education facilities and communications to bring them more in line with those of southern Canada. More recently much of this responsibility has been delegated to the territorial government. Government services are now more numerous throughout northern settlements and occasionally provide the greatest source of local employment. As a result, most northern residents now live in permanent settlements for most of the year. The demand for minerals and fuels, along with improvements in mining and transportation technology, has made northern resources economically attractive and resource development provides employment. On the other hand, resource development promotes an unpredictable economy and further threatens the Aboriginal communities’ traditional way of life.