Cross Lake
A Cree Community Of The Pimicikamak People On The Nelson River, With The Jenpeg Generating Station Nearby, Fishing, Lakes And A Strong Cultural Tradition Of The Nelson River People. A Northern Manitoba Community Reached By A Long Road · Cross Lake, Manitoba
Cross Lake is the home of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation, a community of several thousand people on the Nelson River in northern Manitoba, roughly 70 km north of Norway House and several hundred kilometres by road north of Winnipeg (confirm). The Nelson River here widens into a broad lake of islands and channels that has been a Cree travel route and fishing ground for many centuries, and the people of Pimicikamak have a long history of trade, trapping and stewardship of these waters. In the twentieth century the river was changed by hydroelectric development, including the Jenpeg generating station upstream (confirm distance), and the community has spoken publicly about the effects on its lands. Cross Lake is a living community, not a tourist site. Visit by arrangement with the band office or a local host, ask before you photograph, and treat the visit as a guest would, with patience for weather and distance, since the road and the lake set the pace of every plan made here.
Cross Lake, a Cree community on the Nelson River at Cross Lake in northern Manitoba, about 70 km north of Norway House, reached by road and by air; coordinates approximate, Cross Lake, Manitoba, Canada
Cross Lake keeps no visiting hours because it is a living community. The store, the band office and the schools follow weekday patterns, roughly 9 to 5, and close on Sundays and public holidays - confirm by phone. Community events, feasts and gatherings are open to outsiders only by invitation. Scheduled flights may serve the airport on set days, and fog or snow can cancel them (confirm). Fishing and boat travel depend on open water, roughly late May to October, and winter travel on the ice depends on the cold. The shoreline and the streets can be walked at any hour, but ask your host before going farther.