Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[2] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[3] Canada Flight Supplement[4] ^A 2013 figure based on
Edmonton = 100[5] ^B 2015 figure based on
Yellowknife = 100[5]
It is the oldest documented European community in the Northwest Territories, built in 1819, and was a key link in the fur trade's water route north. Fort Resolution is designated as a
National Historic Site of Canada as the oldest continuously occupied place in the Northwest Territories with origins in the
fur trade and the principal fur trade post on Great Slave Lake.[7]
Fort Resolution's Deninoo School offers K-12 schooling. The town also has a
hockeyarena, community hall, a nursing station, a youth centre,
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a
bed and breakfast, a
'Northern' general store, a convenience store, one diner, and two gas stations.
Fort Resolution Airport services charter and
medivac flights only. The oldest building in town is the historic
Roman Catholic Church, built in the early 19th century; there is also a
Protestant church in the hamlet. The beach along Great Slave Lake is a prime spot for summer swimming, bird watching, fishing or relaxing. Local people engage in
fishing,
hunting, and
trapping year-round.
The nearby site of
Pine Point was once a thriving
lead mine. When the value of lead plummeted in the 1980s, the
Pine Point Mine closed, and the township was evacuated. Pine Point houses were sold cheaply, and many of the buildings were then moved to Fort Resolution (including the hockey arena),
Hay River and
Northern Alberta.[8]
Deninoo Days in late August celebrate the beginning of moose hunting season with parades, traditional races, games and talent competitions. Recreational opportunities include
camping,
canoeing and fishing (self-guided, or available through several outfitters). Little Buffalo River Crossing is a nearby territorial park, with historical and natural attractions, accessible by road and featuring a campground with 12 sites.[9]
Demographics
Federal census population history of Fort Resolution
Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001 - 2017)[18]
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada, Fort Resolution had a population of 412 living in 167 of its 223 total private dwellings, a change of -12.3% from its 2016 population of 470. With a land area of 452.87 km2 (174.85 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.9/km2 (2.4/sq mi) in 2021.[17]
In 2016, the majority of its population, 430, was listed as
Indigenous. The majority of townspeople are of
Dene (320) and
Métis (105) descent.[1] The predominant languages are
English,
Chipewyan and
Michif.
Fort Resolution has a
subarctic climate (
Dfc) with short, mild summers and long, cold winters lasting from October through April.
On January 8, 1936, Fort Resolution recorded a temperature of -59.4°C (-75°F), which is the coldest temperature recorded in the Northwest Territories.[20]
Deprez, P., & Bisson, A. (1975). Demographic differences between Indians and Métis in Fort Resolution. Winnipeg: Centre for Settlement Studies, University of Manitoba.
Driedger, L. C. (1990). Kinship, marriage and residence in Fort Resolution, N.W.T. Ottawa: National Library of Canada.
ISBN0-315-55603-X
Fields, G., & Sigurdson, G. (1972). Northern co-operatives as a strategy for community change; the case of Fort Resolution. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba, Centre for Settlement Studies.
Fort Resolution Education Society. (1987). That's the way we lived an oral history of the Fort Resolution elders. Fort Resolution, N.W.T.: Fort Resolution Education Society.
Kim, C. J.-H. (1996). Assessment of cadmium intake from the consumption of traditional food in Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada.
ISBN0-612-12213-1
Lafontaine, C. (1997). Concentrations of metals and trace elements in muscle and liver of fish collected from Great Slave Lake, Fort Resolution area, NWT final report. Yellowknife: The Division.
Mercredi, M. (1988). An outline for a traditional skills camp proposed by the Fort Resolution Settlement Council. Yellowknife?: Govt. of the Northwest Territories].
Smith, D. M. (1982). Moose-Deer island house people a history of the native people of Fort Resolution. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
Smith, D. M. (1973). INKONZE: magico-religious beliefs of contract-traditional Chipewan trading at Fort Resolution, NWT, Canada. Mercury series. Ottawa: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada.
Van Kessel, J. C. (2004). Taking care of bison community perceptions of the Hook Lake Wood Bison Recovery Project in Fort Resolution, N.T., Canada. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada.
ISBN0-612-81493-9