Magpie River

Magpie River Rivière Magpie
Data
location	Algoma District in Ontario (Canada)
River system	Saint Lawrence River
Drain over	Saint Marys River  → St. Clair River  → Detroit River  → Niagara River  → Saint Lawrence River  → Atlantic Ocean
origin	Upper Magpie Lake 48 ° 37 ′ 51 ″  N , 84 ° 37 ′ 31 ″  W.
Source height	420  m
muzzle	Upper Lake Coordinates: 47 ° 56 ′ 2 ″  N , 84 ° 50 ′ 59 ″  W 47 ° 56 ′ 2 ″  N , 84 ° 50 ′ 59 ″  W.
Mouth height	184  m
Height difference	236 m
Bottom slope	approx. 1.6 ‰
length	approx. 150 km
Catchment area	approx. 1950 km² (without Michipicoten River)
Discharge at the Michipicoten A Eo gauge : 1930 km²	MQ 1953/1989 Mq 1953/1989	27 m³ / s 14 l / (s km²)
Left tributaries	Michipicoten River
Flowing lakes	Wejinabikun Lake , North Wejinabikun Lake , Mozambique Lake , Esnagi Lake
Communities	Swanson , Dubreuilville , Wawa

The Magpie River ( French Rivière Magpie ) is a river in the Canadian province of Ontario .

There are three hydroelectric plants along its course - Steephill , Harris and Mission - which are maintained by the Ontario Power Authority . They were used to supply the ore mines in the region with electricity; in their favor, ignoring contractual agreements that have existed since 1850, the Michipicoten First Nation was deprived of its rights to its traditional territory on crown land and now lives impoverished on Lake Superior . Most of their more than 800 relatives live in the neighboring cities.

course

The Magpie River ( magpie is the English name for the titmouse ) has its source in Upper Magpie Lake at 420  m height, flows through several lakes, such as Wejinabikun Lake and North Wejinabikun Lake , and Mozambique Lake ( 347  m ). From there, it continues northward to flow into Esnagi Lake .

The Tripoli Creek also flows into Esnagi Lake, while the Magpie leaves the lake again at Swanson . After falling over the Jean Falls to the south, the Peckerwood Creek flows into the Magpie, then at Dubreuilville the Hobon Creek as well as the Herman Creek and the Soderston Creek . Then the Magpie falls over the Toolong Rapids to turn south. Again it falls over Cedar Falls, then Steephill Falls . Eventually it reached Wawa , where it was crossed by a branch of the Algoma Central Railway leading to Michipicoten Harbor . Eventually the river falls over the Magpie Falls and joins the Michipicoten River, which is much richer in water , just before it flows into Michipicoten Bay . There you will find the Michipicoten Post Provincial Park .

history

Portagen offered connections early on via the Kabinakagami River , which is part of the Albany River system, to James Bay , the southern bay of Hudson Bay . This connected the region to both Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes region .

A map by Samuel de Champlain from 1632 already shows the Magpie River next to the Michipicoten. A French trading post was established on the river.

British fur traders also came to the area and the Hudson's Bay Company set up a trading post, which was burned down in the 1960s on the orders of the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests . In 1850 British representatives and the local Michipicoten-Ojibwa negotiated the Robinson Treaty , which gave them land. Chief Totomenai signed it on September 7, 1850, and the tribe moved to the right side of the river, across from the British trading post, which was near the confluence of the Michipicoten and Magpie rivers. This area should be 4 square miles and be on Gros Cap on Lake Superior. But as early as 1855 they were deprived of a square mile because the area was used for commercial shipping. In 1885 they were given a reserve of only 197 acres. But the province did not recognize the reserve and land speculators took parts of it.

In addition, the Helen Mine was built on Magpie, the largest ore mine in Canada. However, no iron ore was mined in any of Canada from 1924 to 1939. Large quantities of wood were also felled, which drove down the Magpie to be collected in the Upper Lake and shipped. In addition, a fishing industry based on the region's trout was created. Generators were built to supply electricity to the ore mines, for example at Steep Hill Falls.

In 1899, the Michipicotes were confiscated another 1,000 acres , which were earmarked for a company, which however soon disappeared again. The coastline, which in earlier times had been the main reason for settlement, was now closed to the Indians. They moved to Halfway, which was named because it was halfway between the harbor and Whitesands Beach. In 1935 the Department of Indian Affairs bought the 55.6 acres of Halfway to finally turn it into a reservation, because the Michipicots still didn't have one. But this time too nothing happened. Only after they were ready to move again did they get a 13.9 acre site with eight houses and electricity connections right next to the train station at the port. These green houses gave the now recognized reserve the name 'Green Acres'. But in 1971 it was found that the houses built on the loamy, damp ground were not at all suitable for living, and the Indians moved to Whitesands, where the Ontario power supply, unlike Indian Affairs even built a road. However, only 70 of the 700 or so tribesmen lived on the reservation after they had moved five times. In 2011, 832 people were considered to be members of the Michipicoten First Nation, 56 of them live within the reserve (as of September 2011), in 2015 there were over 1100, of whom 63 lived in the reserve.

In 1987 Great Lakes Power applied to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for permission to produce electricity on the river. In order to be able to build the necessary dams, which should also supply electricity for Ontario Hydro , this ministry demanded negotiations with the local Michipicoten First Nation. The dam was to be built on the treaty land of 1850, i.e. not in the actual reserve on Lake Superior, and the province was therefore responsible. However, since the reserve was also affected, albeit to a minor extent, the government of Canada in Ottawa was also responsible. In 1989 a treaty was signed which provided for compensation for the reserve land and for disadvantages for subsistence farming , but did not protect the traditional territory. The provincial government was supposed to confirm the results in 1994, but the contract was never implemented. Delay and inaction robbed the Michipicots of their rights.

Hydropower plants

Brookfield operates three hydroelectric plants along the Magpie River.

In the downstream direction these are:

Surname	completion position	Power [MW]	Number of turbines	hydraul. Potential [m]	reservoir	operator
Steephill Falls	1990	16	1	41.1	n / A	Brookfield
Harris	1990	12	1	29.6	n / A	Brookfield
mission	1990	16	1	35.8	n / A	Brookfield

See also

• Ontario history
• Magpie River - River in Quebec City (Canada), is in English as Magpie River called

Web links

• Michipicoten First Nation , land issues

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Water Survey of Canada: Station 02BD007  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Water Survey of Canada: Station 02BD003  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Commission de toponymie de Québec
4. ^ Daniel Douglas: Northern Algoma: A People's History , Toronto: Dundurn Press Ltd., 1996, p. 17.
5. ^ Thomas F. Waters: The Superior North Shore. A Natural History of Lake Superior's Northern Lands and Waters, University of Minnesota Press 1987, p. 94.
6. ↑ According to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development , Michipicoten ( Memento of the original from April 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ^ David McNab: "Let them harvest blueberries". The Magpie Negotiations and Agreement of 1987-89 , in: Ders .: Circles of Time. Aboriginal Land Rights and Resistance in Ontario , Waterloo 1999, pp. 101–116.
8. ↑ Ontario Power Authority ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ Brookfield - Wawa Hydro Operations ( Memento of the original from July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 925 kB)