Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories
Fort McPherson Teet'lit Zheh The heart of the Gwich'in |
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Hamlet | |
A wooden church in Fort McPherson, NWT
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Motto: Take what you need | |
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |
Country | Canada |
Territory | Northwest Territories |
Region | Inuvik Region |
Constituency | Mackenzie Delta |
Census division | Region 1 |
Hamlet | 1 November 1986 |
Government | |
• Chief | William R Koe |
• MLA | Fredrick (Sonny) Blake |
Area[1] | |
• Land | 53.39 km2 (20.61 sq mi) |
Elevation | 43 m (141 ft) |
Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 792 |
• Density | 14.8/km2 (38/sq mi) |
Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC−7) |
• Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC−6) |
Canadian Postal code | X0E 0J0 |
Area code(s) | 867 |
Telephone exchange | 952 |
- Living cost | 157.5A |
- Food price index | 165.7B |
Website | www.fortmcpherson.ca |
Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[2] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[3] Canada Flight Supplement[4] ^A 209 figure based on Edmonton = 100[5] ^B 2012 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[5] |
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Official name | Fort McPherson National Historic Site of Canada |
Designated | 1969 |
Fort McPherson (Gwich’in language: Teet'lit Zheh[pronunciation?] at the head of the waters) is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located on the east bank of the Peel River and is 121 km (75 mi) south of Inuvik on the Dempster Highway.
The two principal languages spoken are Gwich'in and English.
Originally the site of a Hudson's Bay Company post the community was named for "Murdoch McPherson".
The Gwich’in people of Fort McPherson are very welcoming of strangers and go out of their way to make them welcome. Most people have vehicles and regularly make trips to either Inuvik, or Whitehorse.
Contents
History
Fort McPherson was the starting point of Francis Joseph Fitzgerald's famous tragic journey of "The Lost Patrol". All four men on the Patrol, including Fitzgerald, were buried at Fort McPherson on 28 March 1911. In 1938, the graves were cemented over into one large tomb (to the right of the flag pole in above image), with cement posts at the four corners connected by a chain. In the centre is a memorial to the Royal Northwest Mounted Police Patrol of 1910.
National Historic Site
In 1969, the area comprising the boundaries of the community of Fort McPherson, as it was mapped in 1898, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada, in recognition of the fact that the site had served as the principal Hudson's Bay Company trading post in the MacKenzie Delta region for over 50 years, and had been the first North-West Mounted Police post in the Western Arctic.[6]
Transportation
Fort McPherson is accessible by road all year from Dawson City and Whitehorse, Yukon, with the exception of spring break-up and fall freeze-up on the Peel River. The community also has access to Inuvik via the Dempster Highway and crosses the Mackenzie River at Tsiigehtchic.
There is also a small airport at Fort McPherson, Fort McPherson Airport, that has seasonal flights to Inuvik (Mike Zubko) Airport on Aklak Air when the road across the Peel is closed.[7] The former Fort McPherson Water Aerodrome was listed as closed in the 15 March 2007 Canada Flight Supplement.[4]
Demographics
Population is 792 according to the 2011 Census,[1] a 2.1% increase over the 2006 Census count of 776. In 2012 the Government of the Northwest Territories reported that the population was 808 with an average yearly growth rate of -0.2% from 2001.[5] In the 2006 Census 715 people identified as aboriginal, 650 as North American Indian, 30 as Métis, 30 as Inuit or Inuvialuit, 10 giving multiple or other aboriginal responses and 55 Non-Aboriginal.[8]
Historical population | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001-2012)[5] |
Climate
Climate data for Fort McPherson Airport | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high humidex | 9.0 | 7.6 | 8.2 | 15.7 | 28.3 | 38.8 | 34.0 | 35.7 | 27.0 | 24.1 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 38.8 |
Record high °C (°F) | 6.0 (42.8) |
8.5 (47.3) |
9.0 (48.2) |
16.0 (60.8) |
26.0 (78.8) |
32.0 (89.6) |
33.3 (91.9) |
33.0 (91.4) |
27.0 (80.6) |
24.1 (75.4) |
10.0 (50) |
9.0 (48.2) |
33.3 (91.9) |
Average high °C (°F) | −23.8 (−10.8) |
−20.8 (−5.4) |
−14.9 (5.2) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
6.9 (44.4) |
18.5 (65.3) |
20.2 (68.4) |
16.4 (61.5) |
8.4 (47.1) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
−17.2 (1) |
−20.8 (−5.4) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −27.5 (−17.5) |
−24.9 (−12.8) |
−20.3 (−4.5) |
−9.9 (14.2) |
2.1 (35.8) |
13.0 (55.4) |
15.2 (59.4) |
11.8 (53.2) |
4.6 (40.3) |
−7.0 (19.4) |
−20.5 (−4.9) |
−24.4 (−11.9) |
−7.3 (18.9) |
Average low °C (°F) | −31.1 (−24) |
−29.0 (−20.2) |
−25.7 (−14.3) |
−15.7 (3.7) |
−2.7 (27.1) |
7.5 (45.5) |
10.2 (50.4) |
7.2 (45) |
0.8 (33.4) |
−9.9 (14.2) |
−23.8 (−10.8) |
−28.1 (−18.6) |
−11.7 (10.9) |
Record low °C (°F) | −50.5 (−58.9) |
−50.3 (−58.5) |
−46.0 (−50.8) |
−37.5 (−35.5) |
−24.5 (−12.1) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
0.9 (33.6) |
−3.0 (26.6) |
−19.5 (−3.1) |
−37.5 (−35.5) |
−44.0 (−47.2) |
−45.0 (−49) |
−50.5 (−58.9) |
Record low wind chill | −58.9 | −56.8 | −54.4 | −41.6 | −32.6 | −9.2 | 0.0 | −4.8 | −17.5 | −40.2 | −50.0 | −59.7 | −59.7 |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 14.9 (0.587) |
14.8 (0.583) |
12.7 (0.5) |
10.9 (0.429) |
17.2 (0.677) |
25.5 (1.004) |
46.4 (1.827) |
39.4 (1.551) |
33.1 (1.303) |
37.0 (1.457) |
29.0 (1.142) |
17.0 (0.669) |
297.7 (11.72) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.3 (0.012) |
8.2 (0.323) |
25.1 (0.988) |
46.4 (1.827) |
39.1 (1.539) |
25.7 (1.012) |
1.2 (0.047) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
145.9 (5.744) |
Average snowfall cm (inches) | 14.9 (5.87) |
14.8 (5.83) |
12.7 (5) |
10.6 (4.17) |
9.0 (3.54) |
0.4 (0.16) |
0.0 (0) |
0.3 (0.12) |
7.4 (2.91) |
36.4 (14.33) |
29.0 (11.42) |
17.0 (6.69) |
152.5 (60.04) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 6.4 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 7.0 | 9.9 | 11.3 | 11.0 | 11.8 | 9.9 | 6.8 | 94.3 |
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 6.9 | 9.9 | 11.3 | 8.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 40.4 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 6.4 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 11.2 | 9.9 | 6.7 | 55.1 |
Source: Environment Canada Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010[9] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fort McPherson, HAM Northwest Territories (Census subdivision)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 24 July 2014 to 0901Z 18 September 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Fort McPherson - Statistical Profile at the GNWT
- ↑ Fort McPherson National Historic Site of Canada. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- ↑ Flight Schedule
- ↑ Fort McPherson Aboriginal profile
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Further reading
- Carefoot, E. I., and N. A. Lawrence. Utility Study Settlement of Ft. McPherson for Department of Public Works, Government of the Northwest Territories. Edmonton: Associated Engineering Services, 1972.
- Gallupe, Scott. Husky Lake, Fort McPherson Area Historic Hydrocarbon Exploration Investigation June 29, 1992. Inuvik, NT: Northern Affairs Program, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 1992.
- Kakfwi, Stephen. Literacy Program Funding, Fort McPherson. Yellowknife?, N.W.T.: Northwest Territories, Executive Council, 1991.
- Manitoba Free Press. Pemmican Made at Fort McPherson, a Hudson's Bay Company's Post Sixty-Five Miles Within the Arctic Circle and Two Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy-Eight Miles Northwest of Winnipeg A Christmas Present from the Manitoba Free Press. Winnipeg: [s.n.], 1902. ISBN 0-665-78324-8
- Northern Engineering Services Company, and Canadian Arctic Gas Study Limited. Report on All-Weather Road from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Fort McPherson, N.W.T. [Canada?]: Northern Engineering Services, 1972.
- Northwest Territories, and Jane Gilmartin Gilchrist Collection (Newberry Library). Gwich'in Alphabet Posters Fort McPherson Dialect. [Fort McPherson]: Northwest Territories, Dept. of Education, Programs and Evaluation Branch, 1981.
- Ripley, Klohn & Leonoff International Limited. Community Granular Materials Inventory Fort McPherson, N.W.T. [s.l.]: Dept. of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1972.
External links
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