THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE – GRADE 9 www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas

The Northern Transportation Company – Shipping Goods on the

Lesson Overview In this activity the students will look at the importance of the Mackenzie River as a vital shipping route for the people of the Arctic. The students will read an overview of the topic with a focus on the Native-operated Northern Transportation Company, evaluate the value of the Mackenzie River, and map several communities in the region.

Grade Level Grades 9

Time Required One or two 60-minute lessons

Curriculum Connection Northwest Territories – Grade 9: : Opportunities and Challenges

Link to Canadian National Geography Standards • Essential Element #1 (Grade 9-12) – The World in Spatial Terms • Essential Element #2 (Grade 9-12) – Places and Regions • Essential Element #4 (Grade 9-12) - Human Systems • Essential Element #5 (Grade 9-12) - Environment and Society • Essential Element #6 (Grade 9-12) – The Uses of Geography

• Geographic Skill #2 (Grade 9-12) – Acquiring geographic information • Geographic Skill #4 (Grade 9-12) - Analyzing geographic information • Geographic Skill #5 (Grade 9-12) - Answering geographic questions

Principle Resource The following sections of The Canadian Atlas Online are used in this lesson: • Rivers of Canada: Mackenzie River/Arctic and Taiga http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/themes.aspx?id=rivers&sub=rivers_west_mack enzie&lang=En • Glossary of Terms: http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/glossary.aspx?lang=En

Additional Resources, Materials and Equipment Required • Maps of the North Circumpolar Region, one for each student • Highlighters, one for each student • Dictionaries (or direct the students to an online one of choice) • Student Activity Sheet: The Northern Transportation Company – Shipping Goods on the Mackenzie River

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Additional Resources, Materials and Equipment Required (cont’d)

• Computer lab with access to the Internet • Access to these sites: - Routes in the Mackenzie River and Western Arctic: http://www.ntcl.com/booking/map.html - Overview of the Mackenzie River at the CCGE http://www.ccge.org/ccge/english/Resources/rivers/tr_rivers_mackenzieRiver.asp - Map of North Circumpolar Region http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/outlineworld/circumpolar01

Main Objective Students will understand the importance of the Mackenzie River as a transportation route, especially since the 1950’s, and the role of the Northern Transportation Company in the shipping of vital goods.

Learning Outcomes By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: • Identify the Mackenzie River on a map. • Access The Canadian Atlas Online website. • Research information using web-based resources. • Indicate they know several facts about the Northern Shipping Company. • Draw conclusions about the transportation/shipping value of the Mackenzie River to the people in the region. • Locate and indicate the Mackenzie River as well as several features and communities in the region on a map. • Perform several map-related skills, including: measuring distances, determining directions, and applying textual clues to a map.

Lesson

TEACHER ACTIVITY STUDENT ACTIVITY

Introduction • Using a large wall map or any other map • Students view map of Mackenzie River. source that can be viewed by all students in class, point out the Mackenzie River. Probe to see what they know about the Mackenzie River. • Ask them questions specific to: - Whom do you think lives there (Inuit? Inuvialuit? First Nations?) - How do you think they obtain the goods they need in such an isolated area? - What unique problems regarding shipping would the communities along the Mackenzie River face?

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Lesson (cont’d)

TEACHER ACTIVITY STUDENT ACTIVITY

Introduction • Lead a brainstorming session. • Students participate in brainstorming session. (cont’d)

Lesson • Access the Rivers of Canada/Mackenzie River • Students access the Rivers of Development section on the CAOL website at Canada/Mackenzie River section on the CAOL http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/the website. mes.aspx?id=rivers&sub=rivers_west_macke nzie&lang=En. Instruct the students to do the same. • Direct them to the section entitled Cultural • Students listen to reading. legacy. Read the section with them, beginning: “The Mackenzie River has long

been a lifeline for a number of distinct cultures….” • Probe for questions based on the reading. • Students participate in class question and Clarify any questions. answer session.

Conclusion • Hand out the Student Activity Sheet entitled ‘The Northern Transportation Company – Shipping Goods on the Mackenzie River’ Have the students complete the Activity • Sheet as instructed. • Provide a blank outline map of Canada’s • Students complete the Student Activity Sheet North Circumpolar Region – one for each entitled ‘The Northern Transportation student. Company – Shipping Goods on the Mackenzie River’ • Guide and assist when necessary.

Lesson Extension There are several ways to extend this lesson: • Have students explore the Northern Transportation Company’s shipping routes in other territories, provinces, and states. • Have the students explore other First Nation-owned shipping companies in Canada. • Have the students research the change in traditional lifestyles of the Native peoples of the Arctic after the 1950’s. • Instruct the students to find other Canadian rivers that play a major role in the economic and/or transportation-oriented lives of Canada’s First Nations peoples.

Assessment of Student Learning Students can be assessed in the following ways: • Teacher can correct and assess the Student Activity Sheet. • Students can be assessed on their participation in the class discussion. • A quiz could be given where students must demonstrate an understanding of the shipping value of the Mackenzie River.

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Student Activity Sheet: The Northern Transportation Company – Shipping Goods on the Mackenzie River

PART A - THE MACKENZIE RIVER: A VITAL SHIPPING ROUTE Complete the activity as instructed. • Access the section of The Canadian Atlas Online, Mackenzie River (Arctic and Taiga) at www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/themes.aspx?id=rivers&sub=rivers_west_mackenzie&lang=En • Read the section entitled Cultural Legacy and answer the questions that follow. 1. Why, in the 1950’s, did the Canadian federal government gather nomadic Inuit into communities on the Arctic islands?

2. How did this affect their daily lives?

3. Why did the Mackenzie River become a vital and necessary shipping route?

4. What types of goods do you think are shipped along the Mackenzie River? What goods would be necessities for the people living there?

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PART B - THE NORTHERN TRANSPORTATION COMPANY

Complete the activity as instructed. Vessels set out from the source of the Mackenzie River on and head downstream to distribute vital supplies to scattered communities along the shores of the . Until about 70 years ago, the Inuit and other Native peoples of the far north relied only on their skills as hunters. As the Canadian government reached north to establish its sovereignty, it encouraged the nomadic Native populations to collect in permanent settlements where they could be supplied with food, education, and medical care. Unfortunately, the government often forced Inuit families to settle on Arctic islands well north of their natural food supplies.

They were forced into a life dependent on supplies from the south. In the western Northwest Territories, this meant dependence on the short summer navigation season of the Mackenzie River.

Today, roads and air service can bring fresh food and lightweight goods to the northern communities. But, for heavy freight such as fuel for heating, boats, snowmobiles, and even houses, the people still depend on the barges that travel north down the Mackenzie during summer. The Northern Transportation Company was founded in 1944. As part of a land claims settlement in the 1980s, Inuvialuit of the western Northwest Territories and Inuit of Nunavut gained ownership of the company in 1985, which operates tugs and barges on the Mackenzie River and along the Arctic coast.

The Northern Transportation Company (NTCL) is Canada's only pan-Arctic marine operator. For more than 70 years the company has provided essential marine transportation services to communities and resource exploration projects along the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories and across the Western Arctic, from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska as far east as Taloyoak in Nunavut. NTCL has a large modern shipyard in Hay River, on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. Its fleet consists of 11 river and ocean tugboats and more than 90 barges. These boats are used to transport fuel and dry cargo to northern communities.

In total, NTCL's marine transportation systems cover 11,000 kilometres. You may access the following link for greater details regarding the people who live and work along the Mackenzie River: http://www.ccge.org/ccge/english/Resources/rivers/tr_rivers_mackenzieRiver.asp

• Answer the following questions based on the reading above. 1. When was the Northern Transportation Company founded? How did the Inuvialuit and Inuit gain ownership of the company?

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PART B – (cont’d)

2. Use a dictionary/ other source/Glossary of Terms section of the CAOL at http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/glossary.aspx?lang=En: what is the difference between a tug and a barge?

3. What goods are carried along the Mackenzie River to the people of the area?

4. Fill in the following statistics about the Northern Transportation Company:

• Fleet:

• Area of service:

• Shipyard:

PART C - SHIPPING GOODS ON THE MACKENZIE RIVER

Complete the activity as instructed.

• On a map of Canada’s North Circumpolar Region, locate and indicate the following: Mackenzie River Hay River Alaska Taloyoak Great Slave Lake Arctic Ocean Prudhoe Bay Northwest Territories Nunavut Hudson Bay Fort Simpson Norman Wells Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk

• Using your completed map of Canada’s North Circumpolar Region, complete the following activity as instructed. - Highlight the Mackenzie River. - Indicate Hay River with a star (this is where NTCL has its shipyard). - Calculate the distance along the river from Hay River to Tuktoyaktuk using the maps scale. - Which direction would goods be shipped if they left Hay River and were shipped to Fort Simpson? - Which community on your map is nearest to the mouth of the Mackenzie River?

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