Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill is located on Hudson Bay, at the mouth of the Churchill River on the 58th parallel north, far above most Canadian populated areas. Churchill is far from any other towns or cities, with Thompson, approximately 400 km (250 mi) to the south, being the closest larger settlement. Manitoba's provincial capital, Winnipeg, is approximately 1,000 km (620 mi) south of Churchill.

A variety of nomadic Arctic people lived and hunted in this region. The Thule people arrived around the year 1000 from the west, the ancestors of the present-day Inuit. The Dene people arrived around the year 500 from farther north. Since before the time of European contact, the region around Churchill has been predominantly inhabited by the Chipewyan and Cree natives.

Europeans first arrived in the area in 1619 when a Danish expedition led by Jens Munk wintered near where Churchill would later stand. Only 3 of 64 expedition members survived the winter and sailed one of the expedition's two ships, the sloop Lamprey, back to Denmark.[4] Danish archaeologists in 1964 discovered remains of the abandoned ship, the frigate Unicorn, in the tidal flats some kilometres from the mouth of the river.[5] The discoveries were all taken to Denmark; some are on display at the National Museum in Copenhagen.

After an abortive attempt in 1688–89, in 1717 the Hudson's Bay Company built the first permanent settlement, Churchill River Post, a log fort a few kilometres upstream from the mouth of the Churchill River. The trading post and river were named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who was governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in the late 17th century. The fort was built mostly to capitalize on the North American fur trade, out of the reach of York Factory. It dealt mainly with the Chipewyan natives living north of the boreal forest. Much of the fur came from as far away as Lake Athabasca and the Rocky Mountains.

Prince of Wales Fort

As part of the Anglo-French dispute for North America, in 1731–1741 the original fort was replaced with Prince of Wales Fort, a large stone fort on the western peninsula at the mouth of the river. In 1782, the French, led by La Pérouse, captured it. Since the British, under Samuel Hearne, were greatly outnumbered and in any event were not soldiers, they surrendered without firing a shot. The leaders agreed Hearne would be released and given safe passage to England, along with 31 British civilians, in the sloop Severn, on condition he immediately publish his story "A Journey to the Northern Ocean". In return, the British promised the same number of French prisoners would be released and a British navigator familiar with the waters safely conduct the French from Hudson's Bay at a time of year when the French risked becoming trapped in winter ice.[6] The French made an unsuccessful attempt to demolish the fort. The worst effect was on the natives, who had become dependent on trade goods from the fort, and many of them starved. Extensive reconstruction and stabilization of the fort's remains have taken place since the 1950s.

In 1783, Hearne returned to build a new fort, a short distance upriver. Due to its distance from areas of heavy competition between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, it remained a stable, if not profitable, source of furs.

Polar bear statue in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

Between the years of decline in the fur trade and surfacing of western agricultural success, Churchill phased into and then back out of obsolescence. After decades of frustration over the monopoly and domination of the Canadian Pacific Railway, western Canadian governments banded together and argued for the creation of a major new northern shipping harbour on Hudson Bay, linked by rail from Winnipeg. Initially Port Nelson was selected for this purpose in 1912. After several years of effort and millions of dollars, this project was abandoned and Churchill was selected as the alternative after World War One. Surveys by the Canadian Hydrographic Service ship CSS Acadia opened the way for safe navigation. However, construction and use of the railroad was extremely slow and the rail line itself did not come to Churchill until 1929.

Once the link from farm to port was completed, commercial shipping took many more years to pick up. In 1932 Grant MacEwan was the first person to cross through Churchill customs as a passenger. This was purely due to his determination in taking the Hudson Bay route to Saskatchewan from Britain—most passengers returned via the Saint Lawrence River.

In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces established a base called Fort Churchill, 8 km (5 mi) east of the town. After World War II, the base served several other purposes including as an Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and a Strategic Air Command facility. Following the demolition of the base it was repurposed into the town's airport.[7]

Naval Radio Station Churchill, callsign CFL, was activated as an ionospheric study station by the Royal Canadian Navy in support of the U-boat HFDF net and became operational on August 1, 1943. Around 1949, Churchill became part of the Canadian SUPRAD (signals intelligence) network and remained in that role until it closed its doors in 1968. The Operations and Accommodations building remains today but is abandoned.

This area was also the site of the Churchill Rocket Research Range, part of Canadian-American atmospheric research. Its first rocket was launched in 1956, and it continued to host launches for research until closing in 1984. The site of the former rocket range now hosts the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, a facility for multidisciplinary Arctic research.[8]

In the 1950s, the British government considered establishing a site near Churchill for testing their early nuclear weapons, before choosing Australia instead.[9]

Churchill is situated at the estuary of the Churchill River at Hudson Bay. The small community stands at an ecotone, on the Hudson Plains, at the juncture of three ecoregions: the boreal forest to the south, the Arctic tundra to the northwest, and the Hudson Bay to the north. Wapusk National Park is to the east of the town.

The landscape around Churchill is influenced by shallow soils caused by a combination of subsurface permafrost and Canadian Shield rock formation. The black spruce dominant tree cover is sparse and stunted from these environmental constraints. There is also a noticeable ice pruning effect to the trees.[10] The area also offers sport fishing. Several tour operators offer expeditions on land, sea and air, using all terrain vehicles, tundra buggies, boats, canoes, helicopters and even ultralight aircraft.

Tourism and ecotourism are major contributors to the local economy, with the polar bear season (October and November) being the largest. Tourists also visit to watch beluga whales in the Churchill River in June and July. The area is also popular for birdwatchers and to view the aurora borealis.

The Port of Churchill is the terminus for the Hudson Bay Railway operated by the Arctic Gateway Group. The port facilities handle shipments of grain and other commodities around the world. The Churchill Northern Studies Centre also attracts visitors and academics from around the world interested in sub-Arctic and Arctic research. The town also has a health centre, several hotels, tour operators, and restaurants, to serve locals and visitors.

Ecotourism

Beluga whales

Churchill is situated along Manitoba's 1,400 km (870 mi) coastline, on Hudson Bay at the meeting of three major biomes: marine, boreal forest and tundra,[16][17][18][19] each supporting a variety of flora and fauna. Each year, 10,000–12,000 eco-tourists visit, about 400–500 of whom are birders.

Health care

Town centre complex

The town has a modern health centre, the Churchill Regional Health Authority, which employs about 100 people. It provides 44 beds, dental care and diagnostic laboratories to service the residents of Churchill and the communities of the Kivalliq Region (Keewatin) of Nunavut.[26]

Port of Churchill

Churchill Airport, formerly a United States and Canadian military base, is serviced by Calm Air and First Air operating scheduled flights connecting Churchill to Winnipeg and to various communities in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut.

The privately-owned Port of Churchill is Canada's principal seaport on the Arctic Ocean. The port was originally constructed by the government in the 1930s, although the idea of building such an Arctic deepwater port originated in the 19th century.[34] It is the only Arctic Ocean seaport connected to the North American railway grid. The port is capable of servicing Panamax vessels.[35] The presence of ice on Hudson Bay restricts navigation from mid-autumn to mid-summer.[36][37] Churchill experiences the highest tides in Hudson Bay.[38][39] The Churchill estuary has a narrow entrance, and ships planning to moor at the port have to execute a relatively tight 100 degree turn. Marine transportation companies Northern Transportation Company Limited[40] (NTCL), headquartered in Hay River, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Sealink and Supply (NSSI),[41] both have bases in Churchill and provide sealift to the Eastern Arctic and to a few Central Arctic communities. The port was used for the export of Canadian grain to European markets, with rail-sea connections made at Churchill.[42]

There are no roads from Churchill that connect to the Canadian highway network.[42] The only overland route connecting Churchill to the rest of Canada is the Hudson Bay Railway, formerly part of the Canadian National Railway (CN) network, which connects the Port of Churchill and the town's railway station to CN's rail line at The Pas. The Winnipeg–Churchill train, operated by Via Rail, provides passenger service between Churchill station in downtown Churchill and Union Station in downtown Winnipeg twice per week and from The Pas once per week. The 1,700 km (1,100 mi) journey from Winnipeg takes approximately 40 hours, and services many smaller communities in northern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan.[43][44]

In 1997, the railway line and port were sold by the Canadian government to the American railway-holding company OmniTRAX. The government of Manitoba proposed in 2010 that the Port of Churchill could serve as an "Arctic gateway", accepting container ships from Asia whose containers would then be transported south by rail to major destinations in North America.[45] Churchill has been used to transship grain since 1929.[35] In October 2012, the Financial Post reported that due to delays in the approval of several new pipelines from Alberta's oil fields, oil industry planners were considering shipping oil by rail to Churchill, for loading on panamax oil tankers.[35] Under this plan icebreakers would extend the shipping season. In July 2016 OmniTRAX announced the closure of the Port of Churchill and the end of daily rail freight service to the port. Weekly freight service to the town remained[34] until May 2017, when floods washed out the track.[46]

In 2018, the Port of Churchill, the Hudson Bay Railway, and the Churchill Marine Tank Farm were purchased by Arctic Gateway Group, a public-private partnership that includes Missinippi Rail LP (a consortium of First Nations and local governments), Fairfax Financial Holdings and AGT Food and Ingredients.[47] The group engaged Cando Rail Services and Paradox Access Solutions[48] to repair the flood damage.[49] On November 1, 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Churchill residents to celebrate the resumption of rail freight service to the town.[50][51][52] Regular freight shipments resumed in late November and passenger service in early December 2018.[53][54]

As of the 2016 Canada Census, just over two-thirds (67%) of the population is Indigenous and the rest (23%) are non-native. A large number of residents are Chipewyan and Swampy Cree (43.9%), with some Métis (18.6%) and a small number of Inuit (4.5%).[55]

The non-native population is largely of European descent, although a small number of Black Canadians (2.3%) and Latin Americans (1%) also reside in Churchill. [55]

Hunting, trapping and fishing is still an important activity to most of these residents. Although there are some summer trails, snowmobiles are their main transport in the winter.

English is the most commonly spoken language, followed by Cree, Inuktitut, French and Dene.[55]

The town has a modern multiplex centre housing a cinema, cafeteria, public library, hospital, health centre, day care, swimming pool, ice hockey rink, indoor playground, gym, curling rinks and basketball courts. Nearby is the "Eskimo Museum", operated by the Diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson, with over 850 high quality Inuit carvings on permanent display. The exhibits include historic and contemporary sculptures of stone, bone, and ivory, as well as archaeological and wildlife specimens.[56] The Parks Canada visitor centre also has artifacts on display and makes use of audiovisual presentations of various topics involving the region's natural and archaeological history.

By the late 1980s, both the local government and Parks Canada had successfully educated its population on polar bear safety, significantly reducing lethal confrontations and fueling ecotourism such that both the community and the polar bears benefited.

• Susan Aglukark, singer
• Samuel Hearne, explorer
• Reverend Joseph Lofthouse
• Jens Munk, Danish explorer
• Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
• David Thompson, explorer
• Peter Mansbridge, Canadian broadcaster and news anchor
• Jordin Tootoo, NHL hockey player
• Doreen Patterson Reitsma, served a term at the Naval Radio Station
• Travis McEwan, CBC Edmonton television journalist
• Doreen Redhead, Manitoba Provincial Court Judge

• Arctic Bridge
• Churchill (electoral district)
• Churchill (provincial electoral district)
• Churchill Water Aerodrome
• Rupertsland
• Sayisi Dene

• Brandon, Lorraine. Churchill Hudson Bay, A Guide to Natural and Cultural Heritage (The Churchill Eskimo Museum, 2011). ISBN 9780986937101
• Bussidor, Ida and Bilgen-Reinart, Űstűn. "Night Spirits - The Story of the Relocation of the Sayisi Dene" The University of Manitoba Press ISBN 0-88755-643-4
• Dredge, L. A. Field guide to the Churchill region, Manitoba glaciations, sea level changes, permafrost landforms, and archaeology of the Churchill and Gillam areas. Ottawa, Canada: Geological Survey of Canada, 1992. ISBN 0-660-14565-0
• Eliasson, Kelsey. Polar Bears of Churchill (Munck's Cafe, 2005). ISBN 0-9780757-0-6
• MacEwan, Grant. The Battle for the Bay (Prairie Books, 1975). ISBN 0-919306-51-9
• Will Ferguson. Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Excursions in the Great Weird North (Canongate Books Ltd, 2006). ISBN 1-84195-690-2
• Unger, Zac. (2013-01-29). Never look a polar bear in the eye : a family field trip to the Arctic's edge in search of adventure, truth, and mini-marshmallows (First Da Capo Press ed.). Boston, MA. ISBN 9780306821165. OCLC 778420449.
• Lemelin, R. Harvey. "The gawk, the glance, and the gaze: Ocular consumption and polar bear tourism in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada." Current Issues in Tourism 9.6 (2006): 516-534.
• MacIver, Angus & Bernice, Churchill on Hudson Bay, revised edition,2006, ISBN 0-9780757-3-0.
• Montsion, Jean Michel. "Churchill, Manitoba and the Arctic Gateway: a historical contextualization." Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien 59.3 (2015): 304-316.
• Payne, Michael. "Fort Churchill, 1821-1900: an Outpost Community in the Fur Trade." Manitoba History 20 (1990): 2-15.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Churchill, Manitoba.

• Town of Churchill home page
• Town of Churchill Community Profile
• Churchill Northern Studies Centre
• Map of Churchill at Statcan
• Churchill travel guide from Wikivoyage