Information about James Bay

James Bay (French, Baie James) is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay (the largest of which is Akimiski Island) are currently part of Nunavut, but the islands have been ceded to Quebec and Ontario in a soon-to-be-signed agreement. 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 nine communities affiliated with the Crees of northern Quebec.

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 1630-31.

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 convinced the English Crown, primarily Prince Rupert of Bavaria, a favored cousin of both Charles I and Charles II, that a colonial enterprise in the North would yield wealth in minerals and fur. Sieur des Groseilliers accompanied Captain Zachariah Gillam on the ketch Nonesuch and they jointly founded the first fur trading post on James Bay, Charles Fort. Their success, though lacking in minerals, 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. At the same time, the first English colony on what is now mainland Canada, Ruperts Land Colony, was formed, with the first "capital" being at Charles Fort. The fact that the first colonial governor, Charles Baley (various spelling exist), was a Quaker might have been an important factor in the style of relations established between the Company and its "trading partners", Canada's First Nations.

Significant fur trapping has continued in the region, but in general the east coast or East Main of James Bay was too easily accessed by French and independent traders from the south so early Hudson's Bay Company emphasis was quickly placed onto interior trapping grounds reached from the west coasts of James and Hudson Bay. It was, nevertheless, the gateway to British settlements in what would become Manitoba (Winnipeg, for example) and as far west as the Rocky Mountains.

Geography

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.

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).

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 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]

Human development

Coastal communities

The shores of James Bay are sparsely populated. On the eastern shore there are nine coastal communities belonging to the Crees, the indigenous people of the region.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

References

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.
• "The Rupert River website" Read about and see this endangered river soon to be diverted by Hydro Quebec.
• "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)

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