Hayes River

The final three weeks of our expedition will be spent paddling the Hayes River in Manitoba, Canada. At 300 miles long, it is the longest naturally flowing river in Manitoba and is a Canadian Heritage River. During the fur trade, the Hayes River was traveled by the Hudson Bay Company as the primary route from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay. This region of the Hudson Bay lowlands is very unique and features a variety of geographic changes–within a few days of travel, we will paddle out of the boreal forest and into the sub-arctic tundra. This region is also one of the few places in the world where black bear, polar bear, and grizzly bear have been shown to coexist. Two important locations on this river are Norway and Oxford House, which both functioned as depots and forts for the Hudson Bay Company. Norway House, which was built in 1817, then rebuilt in 1826 due to a fire, became the main inland fur trading post for the Hudson Bay Company, and was also the site of the Treaty 5 signing in 1875. The Hayes River region has been utilized and inhabited by communities of Cree people for thousands of years. The Norway House Cree Nation and Bunibonibee Cree Nation are the two communities that live at Norway and Oxford House in the present day.