Jean Marie River

Jean Marie River (Slavey language: Tthets’ek’ehdeli ^{[pronunciation?]} "water flowing over clay"^[1]) is a "Designated Authority"^[9] in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located on the Jean Marie River where it joins the Mackenzie River. The community has a small airport, Jean Marie River Airport, and is accessible by charter aircraft throughout the year and by the all-season JMR Access Road 27 km (17 mi) from the Mackenzie Highway.^[10]

Jean Marie River Tthets’ek’ehdeli[1]
First Nation - Designated Authority (Tthets'éhk'edélî First Nation)
Jean Marie River
Jean Marie River Show map of Northwest Territories Jean Marie River Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 61°31′30″N 120°37′40″W[2]
Country	Canada
Territory	Northwest Territories
Region	Dehcho Region
Electoral district	Nahendeh
Census division	Region 4
Government
• Chief	Melanie Norwegian-Menacho
• Senior Administrative Officer	Tammy Neal
• MLA	Shane Thompson
Area  [4]
• Land	37.5 km2 (14.5 sq mi)
Elevation	143 m (469 ft)
Population  (2021)[4]
• Total	63
• Density	1.7/km2 (4/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
Postal code	X0E 0N0A
Area code	867
Telephone exchange	809
- Living cost	142.5B
Website	www.jmrfn.com
Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[5] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[6] Canada Flight Supplement[7] ^A Postal code shared with Fort Simpson ^B 2013 figure based on Edmonton = 100[8]

History

The Tthek’éhdél Dene of what is today Jean Marie River First Nation were primarily nomadic people who hunted moose and caribou, trapped for beaver and fished the rivers and lakes of the Great Slave Plain.^[11]

In the early 1920s, the transition from a nomadic lifestyle to sedentism began under the orders of the Elder Norwegian (a chief of the area). This led to the formation of various permanent posts in the overall area.^[12]

By the 1950s, the settlement of Jean Marie River had begun to develop a non-traditional economy based around river transportation and logging, which had a collectivist style of living, however in the recent decades the area had various initiative to fully move towards a more intricate economic system, distancing itself from its traditional one.^[12]

Starting from the 2010s, the area started to suffer the consequences of climate change and the local way of life, including food security.^[13]

Demographics

Federal census population history of Jean Marie River

Year	Pop.	±%
1976	62	—
1981	69	+11.3%
1986	64	−7.2%
1991	49	−23.4%
1996	53	+8.2%
2001	50	−5.7%
2006	81	+62.0%
2011	64	−21.0%
2016	77	+20.3%
2021	63	−18.2%
Source: Statistics Canada [4][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Annual population estimates

Year Pop. ±% 1996 53 —     1997 53 +0.0% 1998 60 +13.2% 1999 69 +15.0% 2000 75 +8.7% 2001 74 −1.3% 2002 74 +0.0% 2003 73 −1.4% 2004 71 −2.7% 2005 79 +11.3% 2006 82 +3.8%	Year Pop. ±% 2007 77 −6.1% 2008 72 −6.5% 2009 73 +1.4% 2010 68 −6.8% 2011 62 −8.8% 2012 62 +0.0% 2013 66 +6.5% 2014 72 +9.1% 2015 78 +8.3% 2016 88 +12.8% 2017 94 +6.8%
Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001 - 2017)[22]

In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Jean Marie River had a population of 63 living in 33 of its 37 total private dwellings, a change of -18.2% from its 2016 population of 77. With a land area of 37.5 km² (14.5 sq mi), it had a population density of 1.7/km² (4.4/sq mi) in 2021.^[4]

In 2021, the entirety of its population was First Nations.^[4] The only languages in the community were Indigenous languages and English. The main Indigenous languages in the community are a group of Athabaskan languages called Dene Yatıé or Zhatıé / K’ashógot’įne Goxedǝ́ (South Slavey / Hare).^[4]

Services

Royal Canadian Mounted Police services are provided through Fort Simpson. There is no hospital but there is a health station, the "Jean Marie Health Cabin", located in the community. There is currently no grocery store, but there are accommodations and a visitors centre. There is GNWT Petroleum Products Division fuel station that offers both diesel and gasoline, and accepts both debit or cash, operated by a local contractor. Education from kindergarten to grade 9 is provided through the Louie Norwegian School and they are part of the Dehcho Divisional Education Council.^[23]

First Nations

The Dene of the community are represented by the Jean Marie River First Nation (Tthets'éhk'edélî First Nation) and are a member of the Dehcho First Nations.^[24]

Mackenzie River Flooding

On 7 May 2021, the Mackenzie River flooded, damaging 22 of the community's 26 homes and its only school, disabling the only power plant servicing the community, and causing significant diesel spills.^[25] Rebuilding had begun by the 9 June; residents raised objections to the slowness of the authorities' approach, and a lack of guidance in relation to oil spills which had left many homes smelling strongly of diesel.^[26][27]

Gallery

Around Jean Marie River

• 
  Jean Marie River, Mackenzie River
• 
  Jean Marie River, ceremonial house
• 
  Houses in Jean Marie River
• 
  Louie Norwegian School