Fort Good Hope (formerly ''Fort Hope'', ''Fort Charles'', also now known as the ''Charter Community of K'asho Got'ine''), is a charter community in the Sahtu Region of the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

, Canada. It is located on a peninsula between Jackfish Creek and the east bank of the

Mackenzie River The Mackenzie River (French: ; Slavey language, Slavey: ' èh tʃʰò literally ''big river''; Inuvialuktun: ' uːkpɑk literally ''great river'') is a river in the Canadian Canadian boreal forest, boreal forest and tundra. It forms, ...

, about northwest of Norman Wells. Its population is about 500, mainly indigenous. The two principal languages are North Slavey and English. Hunting and trapping are two major sources of income. The Church of Our Lady of Good Hope, a National Historic Site, is located in the community. The church, completed in 1885, was once home to Father Émile Petitot.

History

The settlement was established as a

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

fur trading outpost in 1804 (or 1805). It was known mainly as Fort Good Hope, but also as Fort Hope and Fort Charles (not the same as the HBC fort from

1686 Events January–March * January 3 – In Madras (now Chennai) in India, local residents employed by the East India Company threaten to boycott their jobs after corporate administrator William Gyfford imposes a house tax on resid ...

) The outpost was relocated several times from the current site; between 1804 and before 1823 somewhere between Arctic Red River and Peel River (by NWC and HBC) near

Tsiigehtchic Tsiigehtchic ( ; "mouth of the iron river"), officially the ''Hamlet of Tsiigehtchic'', is a Gwichʼin community located at the confluence of the Mackenzie River, Mackenzie and the Arctic Red Rivers, in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territor ...

, 1823 on the west banks of the Mackenzie near what was called Thunder River near where the rivers runs east–west direction north of current site (labelled in A.K. Isbester 1845 map as Old Fort Good Hope), remained there until 1826 relocated on Manitou Island. Flooding forced HBC to relocate their outpost twice on the east banks in 1836. The fur outpost ended in 1918 and became a HBC retail operation that is now known as Northern Stores.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Fort Good Hope had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In 2006 the Indigenous population was 465, of which 435 were

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

, 20

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

and 10

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

Transportation

The only all season access is by air, Fort Good Hope Airport, with flights operated by North-Wright Airways from

Inuvik Inuvik (''place of man'') is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories, third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Re ...

, Norman Wells and Colville Lake. All flights are non-scheduled passenger service. The old airport runway is now Old Airport Road. The community can be accessed in summer using the Mackenzie River. There is no passenger service and the route is primarily used by the Northern Transportation Company for the summer

sealift Sealift is a term used predominantly in military logistics and refers to the use of cargo ships for the deployment of military assets, such as weaponry, vehicles, military personnel, and supplies. It complements other means of transport, such as ...

. Winter access is possible via a

winter road A winter road is a seasonal road only usable during the winter, i.e. it has to be re-built every year. This road typically runs over land and over frozen lakes, rivers, swamps, and sea ice. Segments of a winter road that cross an expanse of flo ...

from Wrigley located further south. The NWT government is seeking federal funding to help extend the Mackenzie Highway from Wrigley to

, where it would connect with the Dempster Highway, as of winter 2014 at least eight major river crossings are in place for the new road, some of which are in use as winter crossings.

First Nations

Fort Good Hope is represented by the K’ahsho Got’ine Community Council and belong to the Sahtu Dene Council. Through the council they are in negotiations with the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

for a land claims settlement.

Education

Fort Good Hope currently has three institutes providing some form of education. For

pre-school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical s ...

, there is the Fort Good Hope Daycare. Elementary, junior high and senior high school students attend Chief T'Selehye School. The K-12 school is one of five schools under the Sahtú Divisional Education Council. The current school was rebuilt in 2011 replace the early 1971 building (renovations 1987 and 1994). It also hosts the community library. For post secondary education Aurora College Learning Centre located in the town allows students to qualify for admission to Aurora College and meet other college and university admission requirements. The closest campus is Inuvik.

Communication infrastructure

*Full postal service - located in the

Northern Store The North West Company Inc. is a multinational Canadian grocery and retail company which operates stores in Canada's western provinces and northern territories; the US states of Alaska and Hawaii; and several other countries and US territo ...

*Satellite television *Two radio stations ** VF2070 101.9 FM - re-transmitter for CKLB-FM 101.9 FM ** CBQE-FM 105.1 CBC Radio North One Inuvik and re-transmitter for CHAK (AM) *4G cellular service as of August 20, 2013

Services

There is no hospital in Fort Good Hope and has basic care from the local community counselling centre. Urgent care can be assessed at Sahtú Got'iné Regional Health and Social Services Centre in Norman Wells and critical care requiring hospitalization to Stanton Territorial Hospital in

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

(via air ambulance).

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

Fort Good Hope detachment provides general policing in community and under north district of "G" Division, West Region. Fire services are provided from one fire station near RCMP detachment. The service has two pumpers.

Climate

Fort Good Hope experiences a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

( Dfc), with cold winters and short, warm summers. The highest temperature ever recorded was on 8 July 2023. Fort Good Hope is said to hold the record for the coldest temperature in Canada outside

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, when on 31 December 1910, the temperature was recorded as being by Father Houssais. However, this has been disputed, originally by Father Houssais, amd later by others as thermometer reading error.

Notes

References

External links

{{Authority control Charter communities in the Northwest Territories Communities in the Sahtu Region Dene communities Hudson's Bay Company forts Road-inaccessible communities of the Northwest Territories