Fort Chipewyan

File:Fort Chipewyan 1900.jpg

File:Fort Chipewyan H.B.C. post (1900).jpg

Fort Chipewyan is one of the oldest European settlements in the Province of Alberta. It was established as a trading post of the North West Company in 1788, named after the Chipewyan people living in the area. Its original location was Old Fort Point, on the southwest shore west of the Old Fort River.{{cite book |url=http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Alberta-Lakes/view/?region=Peace%20and%20Athabasca%20Region&basin=Lake%20Athabasca%20Basin&lake=Lake%20Athabasca&number=18 |title=Atlas of Alberta Lakes |chapter=Lake Athabasca |publisher=University of Alberta Press |location=Edmonton |year=1990 |isbn=0-88864-214-8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928195426/http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Alberta-Lakes/view/?region=Peace%20and%20Athabasca%20Region&basin=Lake%20Athabasca%20Basin&lake=Lake%20Athabasca&number=18 |archive-date=2011-09-28 }}

One of the founders of the fort, Roderick Mackenzie of Terrebonne, had a taste for literature. Later he opened correspondence with traders all over the north and west, asking for descriptions of scenery, adventure, folklore and history. He also founded a library at the fort that was not only for the residents of Fort Chipewyan, but also for traders and clerks of the whole Lake Athabasca region. He hoped it would be what he called, in an imaginative and somewhat jocular vein, "the little Athens of the Arctic regions." This library, started in 1790, held more than 2000 books.Ft. Chipewyan Bicentennial Museum, 2013, It became one of the most famous in the whole extent of Rupert's Land.{{cite book|last=Bryce|first=George|title=MacKenzie - Selkirk - Simpson - The Makers of Canada|url=https://archive.org/details/mackenzieselkirk005668mbp|date=1910|publisher=Morang & Co|location=Toronto|isbn=978-1-4067-3242-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mackenzieselkirk005668mbp/page/n38 21]–30}}{{cite book |last=Bryce |first=George |title=The Scotsman in Canada |location=Toronto |publisher=Musson Book Co |date=1911 |url=https://archive.org/details/scotsmanincanada02campuoft}}

In 1798, Fort Chipewyan was relocated to its current site on the north shore. In 1802, the HBC set up another post on English Island at the lake's outlet, called Nottingham House, but was abandoned in 1806.{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company: Fort Chipewyan |url=https://pam.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/PAM_AUTHORITY/AUTH_DESC_DET_REP/SISN%201813?sessionsearch |website=pam.minisisinc.com |publisher=Archives of Manitoba - Keystone Archives Descriptive Database |access-date=2025-01-21}}

From about 1815 to 1821 the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) operated a competing Fort Wedderburn (named after Andrew Colvile's family) on Coal or Potato Island {{cvt|1+1/2|mi|order=flip}} from the North West Company's fort.{{cite book|last=Raffan|first=James|title=Emperor Of The North: Sir George Simpson and the Remarkable Story of the Hudson's Bay Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3Jg6Wr1fg0C&pg=PA108|year=2007|publisher=HarperCollins Canada|isbn=978-1-4434-0139-5|pages=108–119}} This fort was established by John Clarke, and Sir George Simpson stayed here 1820–1821, during which time he reorganized the fur trade. When the HBC and NWC merged in 1821, Fort Wedderburn was abandoned and all HBC's fur-trade operations moved to Fort Chipewyan.

Sir John Franklin set out from Fort Chipewyan on his overland Arctic journey in 1820.

In 1887–1888 there was a great famine in the Fort Chipewan area. Electricity and electric lights arrived in Fort Chipewyan in 1959.

In 2023 about a thousand people were evacuated from the centre due to threat by a wildfire.[https://globalnews.ca/news/9739567/alberta-wildfires-chief-allan-adam-fort-chipewyan/]

Old Fort Point, the site of the first Fort Chipewyan, established southeast of Fort Chipewyan in 1788, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1930.{{CRHP|17705|Fort Chipewyan|25 November 2013}}

Historic places in the community include the site of the third Fort Chipewyan established in 1803,{{CRHP|11935|Fort Chipewyan III|23 December 2014}} the Anglican Church built in 1880 and Day School built in 1874,{{CRHP|9088|1880 Anglican Church of St. Paul the Apostle and the 1874 Day School|23 December 2014}} and the Roman Catholic Mission Church built in 1909.{{CRHP|5915|Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Roman Catholic Church|23 December 2014}}

It is located on the western tip of Lake Athabasca, adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park, approximately {{convert|223|km|mi}} north of Fort McMurray.

Fort Chipewyan has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with long, very cold, dry winters and short, warm, wetter summers. The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Chipewyan was {{convert|39.3|C|1}} on 30 June 2021. The coldest temperature ever recorded was {{convert|-51.1|C|0}} on 1 February 1917.

File:Alberta 1890s fur trader.jpg

{{Historical populations

| title = Population history of Fort Chipewyan

| type = Canada

| align = none

| cols = 2

| percentages =

| footnote =

| source = Statistics Canada
{{1951CDNcuipr}}{{1956CDNcuipr}}{{1961CDNcuipr}}{{1966CDNcuipr}}{{1971CDNcuipr}}{{1976CDNcuipr}}{{1981CDNcuipr}}{{1986CDNcuipr}}{{1991CDNcuipr}}{{1996CDNcdplr}}{{cite web | url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census01/products/standard/popdwell/Table-CSD-D.cfm?PR=48 | title=Population and Dwelling Counts, for Canada, Provinces and Territories, and Census Divisions, 2001 and 1996 Censuses - 100% Data (Alberta) | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=August 15, 2012 | accessdate=September 19, 2024}}{{cite web | url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/hlt/97-550/Index.cfm?TPL=P1C&Page=RETR&LANG=Eng&T=1302&SR=1&S=1&O=A&RPP=9999&PR=48&CMA=0 | title=Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and designated places, 2006 and 2001 censuses - 100% data (Alberta) | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=July 20, 2021 | accessdate=September 19, 2024}}{{cite web | url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/hlt-fst/pd-pl/Table-Tableau.cfm?LANG=Eng&T=1302&PR=48&S=51&O=A&RPP=25 | title=Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and designated places, 2011 and 2006 censuses (Alberta) | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 8, 2012 | access-date=September 19, 2024}}

|1941|441

|1951|466

|1956|304

|1961|717

|1966|1026

|1971|1122

|1976|1179

|1981|944

|1986|922

|1991|537

|1991{{abbr|A|adjusted}}|1004

|1996|935

|2001|902

|2006|756

|2011|847

|2016|852

|2021|798

}}

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fort Chipewyan had a population of 798 living in 309 of its 387 total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:798-852}}|852|1}} from its 2016 population of 852. With a land area of {{cvt|9.93|km2}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|798|9.93|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.{{cite web |title=Fort Chipewyan, Unincorporated place (UNP) Alberta [Designated place] Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&DGUIDlist=2021A0006480243&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&HEADERlist=0 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca |publisher=Government of Canada - Statistics Canada |access-date=24 January 2025}}

The population of Fort Chipewyan according to the 2018 municipal census conducted by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is 918,{{cite web | url=http://www.rmwb.ca/Assets/Departments/Planning+and+Development/Planning+$!26+Development+Documents/Census+Report+2018.pdf | title=census2018 Municipal Census Report | publisher=Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo | access-date=September 25, 2021 | archive-date=September 10, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910173454/https://www.rmwb.ca/Assets/Departments/Planning+and+Development/Planning+$!26+Development+Documents/Census+Report+2018.pdf | url-status=dead }} a decrease from its 2012 municipal census population count of 1,008.{{cite web|url=http://www.woodbuffalo.ab.ca/Assets/Corporate/Census+Reports/Census+reports+Part+1.pdf |title=Municipal Census 2012: Count Yourself In! |publisher=Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo |page=24 |access-date=January 26, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326055550/http://www.woodbuffalo.ab.ca/Assets/Corporate/Census%2BReports/Census%2Breports%2BPart%2B1.pdf |archive-date=March 26, 2013 }}

As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fort Chipewyan had a population of 852 living in 295 of its 372 total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:852-847}}|847|1}} from its 2011 population of 847. With a land area of {{convert|10.7|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|852|10.7|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2016.{{cite web | url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/pd-pl/Table.cfm?Lang=Eng&T=1301&SR=1&S=45&O=A&RPP=9999&PR=48&CMA=0#tPopDwell | title=Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and designated places, 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data (Alberta) | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 8, 2017 | access-date=February 13, 2017}}

The hamlet's population is predominantly made up of Cree and Chipewyan (Dene) First Nations and Métis people.

File:Peace-Athabasca Delta road.JPG]]

The hamlet is served by the Fort Chipewyan Airport, opened on June 18, 1966. Air is one of two methods of access to Fort Chipewyan in the summer.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rmwb.ca/living/Communities/Fort-Chipewyan.htm|title=Fort Chipewyan|publisher=Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo|access-date=2018-02-11|archive-date=May 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507171241/http://www.rmwb.ca/living/Communities/Fort-Chipewyan.htm|url-status=dead}}

In the summer, the hamlet also can be accessed by boat from Fort McMurray via the Athabasca River.

There are no all-weather roads to Fort Chipewyan,{{Cite web|url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nt/woodbuffalo/visit/visit1|title=Parks Canada|date=June 5, 2023 |publisher=Parks Canada}} but it can be reached via winter roads in the winter.{{cite web|url=http://www.rmwb.ca/Municipal-Government/municipal_departments/Public-Operations/Roads/Winter-Roads.htm|title=Fort Chipewyan Winter Road|publisher=Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo|access-date=2018-02-11}} These include roads from Fort Smith to the north and from Fort McMurray to the south. In June 1998, and as part of the Northwestern Canadian Integrated Road Network Plan, the Alberta government conducted studies on all-weather road access by extending the existing Highway 63 from Fort McMurray.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nadc.ca/Docs/Northern-Highways-Strategy-2008.pdf|title=Northern Highways Strategy|date=October 2008|website=Northern Alberta Development Council}} As of 2008 Highway 63 has been extended from Fort McMurray to Syncrude; there are currently no plans on extending it further to Fort Chipewyan. In December 2005, one-third of Fort Chipewyan's residents signed a petition to request the government to build a {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on}} all-weather road to connect with existing roads to the northwest that provide access to Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} The major expenditure would be a bridge over the Slave River.

In September 2014, the community of Fort Chipewyan in collaboration with Keepers of the Athabasca installed a 1.8 kW solar array on the roof of the Elder Lodge to be used for emergency backup power.{{cite web|title=MAKING A STATEMENT IN FORT CHIP|url=https://albertaecotrust.com/making-a-statement-in-fort-chip/|website=Alberta EcoTrust|access-date=17 April 2018}} An energy baseline study was completed for Fort Chipewyan by the Pembina Institute in 2012.{{cite web|last1=Huot|first1=Marc|title=Fort Chipewyan Community Energy Baseline|url=http://www.keepersofthewater.ca/pembina-fortchip2012.pdf|website=Keepers of the Athabasca|publisher=Pembina Institute|access-date=17 April 2018}}

The table below shows the mean daily global insolation (kWh/m²) in Fort Chipewyan for each month of the year using five different fixed solar array orientations and one which tracks the sun. The data was provided by Natural Resources Canada's Municipality database of photovoltaic potential and insolation {{cite web|title=Photovoltaic and solar resource maps|url=http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/18366|website=Natural Resources Canada|date=April 7, 2016 |access-date=17 April 2018}} which used data collected over 50 years from 144 locations compiled from Environment Canada's CERES CD.{{cite journal|last1=Pelland |first1=S |title=The Development of Photovoltaic Resource Maps for Canada |journal=31st Annual Conference of the Solar Energy Society of Canada (SESCI). Aug. 20-24th 2006, Montréal Canada|date=Aug 20, 2006 |url=https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/canmetenergy/files/pubs/2006-046_OP-J_411-SOLRES_PV%2Bmap.pdf |access-date=17 April 2018}}

The Fort Chipewyan Solar Farm was developed by Three Nations Energy LP, and constructed in 2019 through 2020. ATCO was the designer and builder, and operates the system. The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Fort Chipewyan Métis Local 125 own the project. The solar farm is expected to supply approximately 25 percent of Fort Chipewyan's energy and annually replace 800,000 litres of diesel fuel. A battery storage system will store 1.5 MWh of power.

Phase 1 was planned to include 1,500 panels (400 kW) but was reported at the project completion as a 600 kW facility, while phase 2 was planned include 6,000 panels and was reported at the project completion to include 5,760 panels with the planned output of 2,200 kW. The Government of Canada provided $4.5M and the Government of Alberta provided $3.3M of the project's $7.8M cost.{{cite web|title=Fort Chipewyan Off-Grid Solar & Storage|url=https://www.atco.com/en-ca/projects/fort-chipewyan-off-grid-solar.html|publisher=ATCO|access-date=19 November 2020}}{{cite web|title=Fort Chipewyan Solar Farm|url=https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/details/Fort-Chipewyan-Solar-Farm/3809|publisher=Alberta Government|access-date=19 November 2020}}

ATCO will buy the solar farm's energy under a long-term purchase agreement and supply it to the local power grid, which is disconnected from the province-wide grid. ATCO stated that with the completion of the 2.2 MW-capacity project, about 25 fewer tanker trucks will trek across the winter ice road connecting the community with Fort McMurray, 220 kilometres to the south. In the summer, the community is only accessible by air or barge.{{cite web|title=Indigenous-owned solar farm opens in remote northern Alberta community|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/indigenous-owned-solar-farm-fort-chip-1.5807721|publisher=CBC|access-date=19 November 2020}}

• List of communities in Alberta
• List of designated places in Alberta
• List of hamlets in Alberta

{{Reflist}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Commons category|Fort Chipewyan}}

• [https://www.rmwb.ca/en/indigenous-and-rural-relations/fort-chipewyan.aspx Fort Chipewyan], Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
• [https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=20 Fort Chipewyan National Historic Site of Canada]

{{Geographic location

| Centre = Fort Chipewyan

| North = Fort Smith

| Northeast = Fidler-Greywillow Wildland Park
Uranium City

| East = Lake Athabasca
Fidler-Greywillow Wildland Park

| Southeast =Lake Athabasca

| South = Fort McKay
Fort McMurray

| Southwest = Lake Claire

| West = Wood Buffalo National Park

| Northwest = Wood Buffalo National Park

}}

{{Alberta|hamlets=yes}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Hamlets in Alberta

Category:National Historic Sites in Alberta

Category:North West Company forts

Category:Designated places in Alberta

Category:Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

Category:Hudson's Bay Company forts

Category:Forts or trading posts on the National Historic Sites of Canada register

Category:1788 establishments in the British Empire

Category:Lake Athabasca