Riding Mountain National Park

About

Riding Mountain National Park is a national park in Manitoba, Canada. The park is located within Treaty 2 Territory and sits atop the Manitoba Escarpment. Consisting of a protected area of 2,969 km2 (1,146 sq mi), the forested parkland stands in sharp contrast to the surrounding prairie farmland. It was designated a national park because it protects three different ecosystems that converge in the area; grasslands, upland boreal and eastern deciduous forests. It is most easily reached by Highway 10 which passes through the park. The south entrance is at the townsite of Wasagaming, which is the only commercial centre within the park boundaries.

For several thousand years, First Nations peoples have lived in the region. It has been home to the Cree, the Assiniboines, and later to the Ojibwe, the latter of whom still live in the area today.

The Okanese Band, now called the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation, lived in the area around Wasagaming, in the valley of the Little Saskatchewan River. The band hunted and fished on the land surrounding Clear Lake. They also used the land south-west of the mountain for the buffalo chase and making of pemmican.

See also: Riding Mountain House, Fort Ellice, and Keeseekoowenin A trading post was first established on Lake Dauphin north of present-day Riding Mountain National Park by the Hudson Bay Company in 1741. Pierre de la Verendrye and sons explored the region and traded with First Nations, who hunted and fished in the area for many years. The Ojibway participated in the fur trade at Riding Mountain House and Fort Ellice. The Hudson's Bay Company established Riding Mountain House for trading with the Ojibwe people led by Chief Okanase and then by Chief Keeseekoowenin. After Chief Okanese's death in 1870, his son Mekis became chief. In 1871, Mekis signed Treaty Number 2.

In 1858 Henry Youle Hind, a professor of Biology and Chemistry at the University of Toronto, became one of the first Canadian explorers to reach the area now encompassed by Riding Mountain National Park during his surveying of present-day Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the aid of several assistants and First Nations peoples.

In 1895, 3,975 square kilometres (1,535 mi 2 ) of land in Riding Mountain was designated as a timber reserve by the Department of the Interior. The Dominion Forest Reserve Act, passed in 1906, and the Dominion Forest Reserve and Parks Act, passed in 1911, were among the first legally binding protection of the area. In 1906 the superintendent of forestry monitored permits for cutting timber, which were issued only to settlers of the region.

On October 27, 1927, a meeting of representatives from the surrounding communities were called to the Court House in Neepawa, Manitoba to discuss a proposal to designate the Riding Mountain Forest Reserve a national park. Led by J. N. McFadden, the meeting aimed to highlight to residents the differences between a forest reserve and national park. Although some wanted a national park to be located in the Whiteshell, a majority voted in favour of locating it in Riding Mountain. As a consequence of designating the area a national park, logging operations were halted.

The forest reserve was set aside as a national park in 1929, officially declared Riding Mountain National Park on May 30, 1933. The park opened to visitors on July 26 of that year, with Manitoba Lieutenant-Governor James D. McGregor unveiling a cairn and giving a speech at a dedication ceremony. In attendance were Manitoba Premier John Bracken, Minister of Natural Resources J. S. McDiarmid, and Thomas G. Murphy, Minister of the Interior. The Clear Lake site was designated Wasagaming. Much of the public infrastructure in Riding Mountain National Park was created during the 1930s by labourers participating in Canada's Great Depression relief programs. Ten relief camps were supervised by James Wardle. Funding for these relief programs was provided by the 1930 Unemployment Relief Act and the 1934 Public Works Construction Act. In 1932 most relief workers were British and over half were from Winnipeg. At this time the 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 -storey interpretive centre and several other buildings were built of log, many featuring a rustic architectural style. A lot of this early construction survives.

In 1936, the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway Band was forced to leave the park area. The Department of Indian Affairs agreed because living in the rich wilderness was contrary to its concept of assimilation through farm labor. The Keeseekoowenin were forced to watch as park employees burned their homes.

In the early days of Riding Mountain National Park, Parks Branch Commissioner James Harkin offered Archibald Belaney (September 18, 1888 – April 13, 1938) a job in the region. Belaney, who adopted the name Grey Owl when he took upon a First Nations identity as an adult, was a writer and became one of Canada's first conservationists. On April 17, 1931, Grey Owl arrived with his two beavers at a secluded lake several kilometres north of Wasagaming which had been selected by the park staff. He spent six months living in a cabin in Riding Mountain National park studying and working with wildlife, including two beavers named Jelly Roll and Rawhide. His main goal in the park was to re-establish beaver colonies in areas where they were exterminated. Riding Mountain National Park was found to be an unsuitable habitat for the beavers, as a summer drought resulted in the lake water level sinking, and becoming stagnant. Both the beavers and Belaney were unhappy with the situation, causing Belaney to search, with the support of the Dominion Parks Branch, for better living conditions. He later relocated to Prince Albert National Park, where there was a greater sized waterway and a lower risk of the lakes freezing to the bottom in the winter. Despite his eventual departure, the park now has an abundant beaver population partially because of his efforts. His former living quarters, now known as "Grey Owl's Cabin", are reachable via a park trail.

- Main article: Whitewater (POW camp) During World War II Riding Mountain National Park was home to the Whitewater labour camp for German prisoners-of-war. Operating from 1943 to 1945, the camp was built on the northeast shore of Whitewater Lake, approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) north-west of Winnipeg. The camp consisted of fifteen buildings and housed 440 to 450 prisoners of war. The decision to have a prisoner of war labour project in Riding Mountain National Park was the result of a fuelwood shortage in the winter of 1942 and 1943. To free up men for the war effort it was decided that prisoners of war would be employed. Following the end of the war and the achievement of a fuelwood surplus, the camp closed in late 1945. In 1945 an advertisement appeared in the Tribune soliciting the sale of the government-owned buildings. The camp has since been dismantled.

In 1896, land adjacent to Clear Lake known as IR 61A was given to the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation by the Canadian government to protect from encroaching settlement. In 1935, this land was expropriated by the government for the creation of the park. The government evicted Ojibway who were living on the land from within the park boundary and forcibly removed them to the main reserve, IR 61, which was outside of the park boundary. In the Report On The Mediation Of The Keeseekoowenin First Nation 1906 Land Claim Negotiation a study by Stuart Davies of North/South Consultants Inc. is referenced to describe the experience of elders who were evicted. Elders accounts stated that their houses were burnt to the ground and that undue force was used during the eviction. Davies noted that "Several Elders stated that one woman died of a heart attack during the eviction". In 1994 after the resolution of a specific land claim with The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the land was returned to the Keeseekoowenin First Nation and a settlement of $4.9 million dollars was made under the Specific Claims Policy.

In a separate claim case, the construction of a rail line in 1904 through the main reserve, IR 61, by Canadian National (CN), permanently cut off a section of land from IR 61. The First Nation voluntarily surrendered this portion of land so the government could sell it, with an understanding that the proceeds would be used to purchase another piece of land adjacent to the existing IR 61A reservation. While the affected piece of land from IR 61 was surrendered and sold, and the land adjacent to IR 61A was purchased by the government, it was not added officially to the IR 61A reserve. A settlement in 2005 provided compensation for the lost use of the land, providing $6,999,900 in monetary compensation, and returned the land to the First Nation.

In 1965 the Winnipeg Tribune reported half a million visitors were entering the park annually. In 1970 Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne visited the park during their tour of Manitoba. In 1983 on the fiftieth anniversary of the park's opening a monument was erected south of the interpretive centre. In the 1990s land removed from the Keeseekoowenin Objiway First Nation in 1930 by the Department of the Interior was returned to them after a land claim. In 2013, Riding Mountain National Park celebrated the 80th anniversary of the creation and opening of the park. It was the first National Park in Manitoba, and one of the first in western Canada. Anniversary celebrations included a re-enactment of the official park opening ceremony, along with year-long arts, culture and wildlife programs.

For several thousand years, First Nations peoples have lived in the region. It has been home to the Cree, the Assiniboines, and later to the Ojibwe, the latter of whom still live in the area today.

The Okanese Band, now called the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation, lived in the area around Wasagaming, in the valley of the Little Saskatchewan River. The band hunted and fished on the land surrounding Clear Lake. They also used the land south-west of the mountain for the buffalo chase and making of pemmican.

See also: Riding Mountain House, Fort Ellice, and Keeseekoowenin A trading post was first established on Lake Dauphin north of present-day Riding Mountain National Park by the Hudson Bay Company in 1741. Pierre de la Verendrye and sons explored the region and traded with First Nations, who hunted and fished in the area for many years. The Ojibway participated in the fur trade at Riding Mountain House and Fort Ellice. The Hudson's Bay Company established Riding Mountain House for trading with the Ojibwe people led by Chief Okanase and then by Chief Keeseekoowenin. After Chief Okanese's death in 1870, his son Mekis became chief. In 1871, Mekis signed Treaty Number 2.

In 1858 Henry Youle Hind, a professor of Biology and Chemistry at the University of Toronto, became one of the first Canadian explorers to reach the area now encompassed by Riding Mountain National Park during his surveying of present-day Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the aid of several assistants and First Nations peoples.

In 1895, 3,975 square kilometres (1,535 mi 2 ) of land in Riding Mountain was designated as a timber reserve by the Department of the Interior. The Dominion Forest Reserve Act, passed in 1906, and the Dominion Forest Reserve and Parks Act, passed in 1911, were among the first legally binding protection of the area. In 1906 the superintendent of forestry monitored permits for cutting timber, which were issued only to settlers of the region.

On October 27, 1927, a meeting of representatives from the surrounding communities were called to the Court House in Neepawa, Manitoba to discuss a proposal to designate the Riding Mountain Forest Reserve a national park. Led by J. N. McFadden, the meeting aimed to highlight to residents the differences between a forest reserve and national park. Although some wanted a national park to be located in the Whiteshell, a majority voted in favour of locating it in Riding Mountain. As a consequence of designating the area a national park, logging operations were halted.