The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the and Peace River in northeastern

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and runs into Great Slave Lake in 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 ...

. The river's name is thought to derive from the name for the Slavey group of the

Dene The Dene people () are an Indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal, subarctic and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages and it is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term ...

First Nations, ''Deh Gah Gotʼine'', in the

Athabaskan languages Athabaskan ( ; also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large branch of the Na-Dene languages, Na-Dene language family of North America, located in western North America in three areal language ...

. The Chipewyan had displaced other native people from this region.

Rapids and kayaking

The Slave River and the

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

surrounding Fort Smith are known for

whitewater kayaking Whitewater kayaking is an outdoor adventure sport where paddlers navigate a river in a specially designed kayak. Whitewater kayaking includes several styles: river running, creeking, slalom, playboating, and squirt boating. Each style offers ...

. The river consists of four sets of named rapids: Pelican, Rapids of the Drowned, Mountain Portage, and Cassette. The rapids range in their difficulty to traverse, ranked from Class I to Class VI according to the International Scale of River Difficulty. Huge volume, massive waves, and the home of the northernmost river pelican colony in North America characterize this river. These islands serve as a sanctuary to the birds and are closed to human traffic from April 15 to September 15. Crossing the Slave River has proven to be fatal; the earliest recorded fatalities as a part of Cuthbert Grant's expedition of 1786 at the Rapids of the Drowned (a class II-IV rapid set).

Course

The Slave River originates in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, at the forks of Peace River and , which drains the

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') in Alberta, Canada, originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is protected in nationa ...

and

Lake Athabasca Lake Athabasca ( ; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , " herethere are plants one after another") is in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake is ...

. The Slave River flows north into the

and into the Great Slave Lake north of Fort Resolution. From there the water reaches the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

through 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, ...

. The river is long and has a cumulative drainage area of .

Portage and navigation

Prior to the extension of railway service to Hay River, Northwest Territories, a river port on Great Slave Lake, cargo shipment on the Slave River was an important transport route. Locally built wooden vessels were navigating the river into the late 19th century. The rapids required a portage of . Tractors were imported from Germany to assist in the transport of goods around the rapids. Tugs and barges of the Northern Transportation Company's "Radium Line" were constructed in the south and disassembled. The parts were then shipped by rail to Waterways, Alberta, shipped by barge to the portage, and portaged to the lower river for reassembly, where they could navigate most of the rest of the extensive Mackenzie River basin.

Tributaries

* Peace-Athabasca Delta **

** **Chilloneys Creek **Revillon Coupe **Dempsey Creek ** Peace River **Scow Channel **Murdock Creek **Darough Creek *Powder Creek *La Butte Creek *Hornaday River * Salt River *Little Buffalo River

References

External links