Due to the large variety of species as well as populations of waterfowl, the delta, along with Tobin Lake, has been designated as important waterfowl habitat.
Other wetlands throughout the Saskatchewan River basin also provide essential habitats for waterfowl. Water quality of the Saskatchewan River is largely a function of the upstream tributaries — the North and South Saskatchewan rivers — both of which flow through urban centres and highly productive agricultural areas, picking up contaminants such as fertilizers, pesticides and municipal wastewater.
The North and South Saskatchewan rivers are also highly regulated by hydroelectricity -producing dams and reservoirs, as well as diversions for irrigation. The presence of dams and associated water regulation has led to a decrease in the frequency of flooding to wetlands and marshes in the delta.
This decrease is considered problematic, as floods normally recharge the wetlands by depositing nutrients. Indigenous peoples have inhabited the Saskatchewan River basin for over 10, years and the river served as a major east-west transportation route.
The Assiniboine and Cree were instrumental in early European exploration and the fur trade. A rivalry between the French and HBC traders existed throughout the fur trade.
In addition, the fur trade had negative impacts on the lifestyles of First Nations, including the introduction of European diseases such as smallpox , measles and scarlet fever, outbreaks of which decimated First Nations populations. James G. Now strengthened by this tributary, the river flows into Cedar Lake, and then Lake Winnipeg.
From Lake Winnipeg, its last major stop, the waters that started in Saskatchewan eventually drain from there into Hudson Bay , by way of the Nelson River. Saskatchewan River is home to a variety of different fish species.
The most common varieties are walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, sauger, lake whitefish, goldeye, rainbow trout, brown trout, white sucker, burbot, longnose sucker, shorthead redhorse, lake sturgeon and mooneye.
Most of these species are fished along the river for food or sport. Besides fishes, many birds are also found in the Saskatchewan River. The river has long been used as a water-highway through central Canada. It was the principal transportation route for first nations and indegenous people that lived in the area. Once Canada began to be settled by Europeans, the river was an important fur-trade route. During this time, canoes and york boats were the main mode of transportation, for travellers and traders.
Climate change has also shifted vegetation zones and decreased habitat for migratory waterfowl. The North Saskatchewan River was a vital transportation route and the basin provided an essential supply of food resources for First Nations inhabitants for more than 10, years. It was the primary route between eastern Canada and the Rocky Mountains and played a major role in the fur trade and early European settlement from the 17th through 20th centuries.
By the late 18th century, nearly half of the canoe travellers arriving at York Factory , on Hudson Bay , came from the North Saskatchewan River basin. The lower North Saskatchewan, south of the river, is the traditional territory of the Assiniboine people while the region north of the river is the traditional territory of the Cree.
Indigenous people fished from the North Saskatchewan and hunted bison , woodland caribou , moose and other smaller mammals, and gathered roots and berries in the river basin.
He travelled as far west as the Rocky Mountains foothills before paddling downstream toFort Paskoyac on the Saskatchewan River , following the spring river ice break-up. David Thompson travelled extensively in the North Saskatchewan basin beginning in , and in , he traversed the upper North Saskatchewan basin in search of a route over the Rocky Mountains.
The fur trade had a significant impact on the traditional lifestyles of First Nations, including seasonal migrations and economic activities, particularly as First Nations shifted from subsistence hunting to hunting furs for European trade.
Cree and Assiniboine in the lower basin acted as intermediaries between Europeans and Blackfoot in the upper North Saskatchewan. Diseases brought by European explorers and settlers were devastating to First Nations communities, including outbreaks of smallpox in , , and that killed a large percentage of First Nations people and had lasting impacts on their social structure and economic well-being.
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