James Bay in summer 2000

James Bay (French, Baie James) is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay (the largest of which is Akimiski Island) are part of Nunavut. The James Bay watershed is the site of several major hydroelectric projects, and is also a destination for river-based recreation. Several communities are located near or alongside James Bay, including a number of Aboriginal communities such as the Kashechewan First Nation and the Crees of northern Quebec. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (734x867, 160 KB)James Bay in summer of 2000 from space image description here larger version here Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (734x867, 160 KB)James Bay in summer of 2000 from space image description here larger version here Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old... Hudson Bay, Canada. ... Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Official languages French Government - Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault - Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 75 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area Ranked 2nd - Total 1,542,056 km² - Water... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman - Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 106 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area Ranked 4th... Akimiski Island, Nunavut. ... Motto: Nunavut Sannginivut (Inuktitut: Nunavut our strength or Our land our strength) Capital Iqaluit Largest city Iqaluit Official languages Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English, French Government - Commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hanson - Premier Paul Okalik (Consensus government) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 1 (Nancy Karetak-Lindell) - Senate seats 1 (Willie Adams) Confederation... Hydraulic turbine and electrical generator. ... Aboriginal people in Canada are Indigenous Peoples recognized in the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982, sections 25 and 35, respectively, as Indians (First Nations), Métis, and Inuit. ... The Kashechewan First Nation is a Cree First Nation located near James Bay in Northern Ontario, Canada. ... The Grand Council of the Crees is the political body that represents the approximately (2003) 14,000 Crees or “Eeyouch” (“Eenouch” – Mistissini dialect), as they call themselves, of eastern James Bay and Southern Hudson Bay in Northern Quebec, Canada. ...

History

The bay first came to the attention of Europeans in 1610, when Henry Hudson entered it during his exploration of the larger bay that bears his name. James Bay itself received its name in honor of Thomas James, an English captain who explored the area more thoroughly in 1631. // Events January 7 - Galileo Galilei discovers the Galilean moons of Jupiter. ... No portrait of Hudson is known to be in existence. ... // Events February 5 - Roger Williams emigrates to Boston. ...

James Bay is important in the history of Canada as one of the most hospitable parts of the Hudson's Bay region, and as a result its corresponding importance to the Hudson's Bay Company and British expansion into Canada. The fur-trapping duo of explorers Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers founded the first fur trading port on James Bay, Rupert House, and their success was such that the Company was chartered by Charles II on their return. This charter granted a complete trading monopoly of the whole Hudson Bay watershed (including James Bay) to the Company. The Hudsons Bay Company (HBC; Compagnie de la Baie dHudson in French) is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. ... Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636 – 1710) was a French-born explorer and fur trader. ... Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (1618-1696) was a French explorer and fur trader in Canada. ... Waskaganish is a Cree village of about 2000 people on the south-east shore of James Bay in the municipality of Baie-James, Quebec, Canada. ... Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was the King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from 30 January 1649 (de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ... This is a list of watercourses draining into Hudson Bay and thus making up the Hudson Bay watershed. ...

Significant fur trapping continued in the region as late as the 1940s, but in general James Bay dropped continuously in significance almost from the founding of the Company. It was, nevertheless, the gateway to British settlements in what would become Manitoba (Winnipeg, for example) and as far west as the Rocky Mountains. Motto: Gloriosus et Liber (Latin: Glorious and free) Capital Winnipeg Largest city Winnipeg Official languages English and French, per mandate of the Constitution Act 1982 Government - Lieutenant-Governor John Harvard - Premier Gary Doer (NDP) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 14 - Senate seats 6 Confederation July 15, 1870 (5th... Motto: Template:Unhide = Unum Cum Virtute Multorum (One With the Strength of Many) Location City Information Established: 1738 (Fort Rouge), 1873 (City of Winnipeg) Area: 465. ... Confectionary Company, see Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. ...

Geography

Hannah Bay in February 2000.

The eastern shores of the bay form the western edge of the Canadian Shield in Quebec. As such, the terrain here is rocky and hilly with boreal forest. The western shore is characterized by broad tundra lowlands that are an extension of the Hudson Bay Lowland. Its vegetation is mostly muskeg. A large portion of this area is part of the Polar Bear Provincial Park. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 604 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2063 × 2048 pixel, file size: 642 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): James Bay Harricana River ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 604 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2063 × 2048 pixel, file size: 642 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): James Bay Harricana River ... Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield— also called the Precambrian Shield, Laurentian Shield, Bouclier Canadien (French), or Laurentian Plateau— is a large shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American craton. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... In physical geography, tundra is an area where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. ... Muskeg is a soil type (also a peatland or wetland type called a bog) common in arctic and boreal areas. ... Polar Bear Provinvial Park is a wilderness park in Ontario, Canada. ...

Hundreds of rivers flow into James Bay. The geography of the area gives many of them similar characteristics. They tend to be wide and shallow near the Bay (in the James Bay Lowlands), whereas they are steeper and narrower further upstream (as they pour off the Canadian Shield). Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield— also called the Precambrian Shield, Laurentian Shield, Bouclier Canadien (French), or Laurentian Plateau— is a large shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American craton. ...

Hannah Bay

Hannah Bay is the southern most bay of James Bay. Here the Kesagami and Harricana Rivers flow into James Bay. About 238 km² is protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act of Canada as the Hannah Bay Bird Sanctuary. This sanctuary has also been designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention since May 1987. The Harricana River and its mouth at Hannah Bay is visible on the left. ... The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i. ...

The shores in this area are a mixture of intertidal mud, sand, and salt flats, estuarine waters, intertidal marshes, freshwater ponds, swamps, and forested peatlands. ^[1] Mudflats in Brewster, Massachusetts extending hundreds of yards offshore at the low tide. ... Freshwater marsh in Florida In geography, a marsh is a type of wetland, featuring grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, cat tails, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. ...

Human development

James Bay, near Chisasibi, Quebec

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 780 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (999 × 768 pixel, file size: 336 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): James Bay Metadata This file contains... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 780 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (999 × 768 pixel, file size: 336 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): James Bay Metadata This file contains... Chisasibi is a Cree village on the eastern shore of James Bay, part of the Baie-James Municipality in Quebec, Canada. ...

Coastal communities

The shores of James Bay are extremely sparsely populated. On the eastern shore there are nine coastal communities belonging to the Crees, the indigenous people of the region. The Grand Council of the Crees is the political body that represents the approximately (2003) 14,000 Crees or “Eeyouch” (“Eenouch” – Mistissini dialect), as they call themselves, of eastern James Bay and Southern Hudson Bay in Northern Quebec, Canada. ... Aboriginal people in Canada are Indigenous Peoples recognized in the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982, sections 25 and 35, respectively, as Indians (First Nations), Métis, and Inuit. ...

Economic development

James Bay has returned to prominence in recent decades due to the James Bay hydroelectric project. Since 1971, the government of Quebec has developed rivers in the James Bay watershed, notably La Grande and Eastmain rivers. Built between 1974 and 1996, the La Grande Complexe now has a combined generating capacity of 16,021 megawatts (MW) and produces about 83 terawatthours (TWh) of electricity each year, about half of Quebec's consumption. Power is also being exported to New York area in large part. A direct transmision high voltage line delivers powers to US grid. The James Bay Project continues to expand, with work beginning in 2007 on a new phase that involves the diversion of the Rupert River. The James Bay Project (in French, projet de la Baie James) refers to the construction of a series of hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Québec, Canada, and the diversion of neighbouring rivers into the La Grande watershed. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... La Grande River is a river in northwestern Quebec which rises in the highlands of north central Quebec and flows roughly 900 km west to drain into James Bay. ... The Eastmain River is a river in northwestern Quebec which rises in north central Quebec and flows 800 km west to drain into James Bay. ... The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec. ...

Another major development project, the Great Recycling and Northern Development (GRAND) Canal centered on separating the Southern James Bay from Hudson Bay by a large dike, thus turning the bay into a freshwater lake due to the numerous rivers that empty into it. This water could then be pumped south for human use. It seems very unlikely that the GRAND Canal will actually ever be built. The Great Recycling and Northern Development Canal is a long proposed project in the James Bay region of Canada. ...

Recreation

Canoeing

Many of the rivers flowing into James Bay are popular destinations for wilderness canoe trippers. Among the more popular rivers are:

• Albany River (Ontario)
• Moose River (Ontario)
• Missinaibi River - recognized as a Canadian Heritage River
• Broadback River (Quebec)
• Rupert River (Quebec) - to be diverted in 2007 for hydro-electric development

Two less-travelled rivers are the Groundhog River and the Harricana. The Groundhog is less travelled in modern times due to a series of seven dams that are about a day or two up-river from the Moose. Canoeists can contact the dam company and arrange to be towed around the dams on company trucks, but they must make arrangements specific to the hour, and they cannot be late. The Groundhog flows into the Mattagami after a set of rapids known as Seven-Mile. The Mattagami then flows into the Moose; it is at the meeting of the Missinaibi and Mattagami rivers that the Moose river begins, marked by an island known as Portage Island. This point is about two or three days travel by canoe to Moosonee. Though the Missinaibi and the Groundhog are both fairly high in the summertime, the Moose is often quite low. Depending on the tides, groups have had to walk long stretches of the river. Rapids on the Groundhog tend to be bigger and more technical than those on the Missinaibi, but the campsites are few and poor, because the volume of travel is so much less. A First Nations encampment beside the Albany River, 1886 The Albany River is a river in northern Ontario which flows northeast from Lake St. ... The Moose River is a river in northern Ontario, Canada, which flows 100 km northeast from the junction of the Mattagami and Missinaibi Rivers into James Bay. ... The Missinaibi River is a river in northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Missinaibi Lake north of Chapleau, Ontario and empties into the Moose River, which empties into James Bay. ... The Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS) was established in 1984 by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canadas river heritage, to give them national recognition, and to encourage the public to enjoy and appreciate them. ... The Broadback River (in French: Rivière Broadback) is a river in northern Quebec, Canada. ... The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec. ... A rapid is a section of a river where it loses elevation over a relatively short distance (that is, the stream gradient is locally steepened), causing an increase in water flow and (usually) turbulence. ...

The Harricana River flows into James Bay several miles east of Moosonee, so anyone wishing to take this route must allow about two days to cross the bay, an extremely dangerous proposition if the tides and the weather are against you.

The most common access point for paddlers to this area is Moosonee, at the southern end of James Bay. A campsite known as "Tidewater" provides large campgrounds with firepits and outhouses on an island across the river from the town. Water taxis will ferry people back and forth for about $1 each. Many of these rivers finish near Moosonee, and paddlers can take the Polar Bear Express train south to Cochrane at the end of a trip. Moosonee, Ontario, Canada, is the railhead on James Bay of the Ontario Northland Railway where goods are transferred to barges and aircraft for transport to more northerly communities. ... A pair of Ontario Northland diesels work in Hearst, in 2003. ... Cochrane, Ontario, Canada is a northern Ontario town situated on Highway 11. ...

Waskaganish, Quebec, is a town further to the north and east on James Bay. It is accessible via the James Bay Road, and is the most common end point for trips on the Broadback, Pontax, and Rupert Rivers (the town itself is situated at the mouth of the Rupert). Waskaganish is a town in Quebec, Canada. ... The Route de la Baie James (James Bay Road) is a remote wilderness highway winding its way through the Canadian Shield in northwestern Quebec and reaches into the James Bay region. ... The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec. ...

References

1. ^ Southern James Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary fact sheet

External links

• "James Bay Road website" Extensive and detailed information on the James Bay region of Quebec, a well as the James Bay and Trans-Taiga Roads.
• "Dammed river" special feature on James Bay from Canadian Geographic.
• CBC Digital Archives - James Bay Project and the Cree
• Northern Tidal Flows: Reliable New Power Source for Quebec? - Includes discussion of Ungava Bay as a feasible location for tidal power generation. (PESN; Aug. 14, 2006)

Coordinates: 53°41′48″N, 80°35′04″W Canadian Geographic is the bimonthly magazine of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS). ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...