The Towns and Cities
of Northern Ontario
Moose Factory- James Bay Frontier
A unique and exciting blend of
northern sub-arctic environment, Cree culture, and early fur trade
history awaits visitors to Moose Factory Island, one of Ontario's
oldest English settlements.
The Hudson Bay Company established a post here in 1673, in the
middle of the Moose River. This island is still an important
fur-trading post. Moose Factory was the administrative centre of the
Company's James Bay or southern department while York Factory, on
Hudson's Bay, was the northern hub.
The trading posts and churches that were built on the shores of
James and Hudson Bays during the eighteenth centuries became the
focal points for Cree settlements. Today, descendants of the Hudson
Bay Lowland Cree live mainly in the seven villages in Ontario along
the coast. Hunting, fishing and trapping are still maintain their
level of importance in the daily lives of the residents. Some
families maintain a seasonal lifestyle, living for extended periods
of time in the interior of the bush.
The Omushkegowuk or swamy Cree have held an intimate relationship
with the Moose River and the surrounding wetlands for countless
generations. Moose Factory island, just a mile or two across the
water from Moosonee, is about 18 kilometres from the mouth of James
Bay.
Moose Factory and Moosonee are closely linked. One community hosts
the area’s high school while the other has the area’s hospital. (See
the ‘Moosonee’ page for more information on the area.)
The Moose Factory Centennial Museum Park shows the history of the
settlement, the original blacksmith's shop (circa 1740), graveyard,
the old powder magazine (the island's only stone building), and a
teepee where the locals sell bannock (freshly baked bread) and
crafts.
Travel to the area is usually by air or by the Polar Bear Express.
Moose Factory - a gateway to the Artic.
