About Winnipeg

Winnipeg lies at the confluence of the Assiniboine River and the Red River, which is known as The Forks, a historic focal point on canoe river routes travelled by Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years. The name Winnipeg is a transcription of a western Cree word meaning "muddy waters". The general area was popular for thousands of years by First Nations. In prehistory, through oral stories, archaeology, petroglyphs, rock art, and ancient artifacts, we know that natives would use the area for hunting, fishing, camps, trading, and some agriculture further north. The rivers provided transportation far and wide, and linked many peoples for trade and knowledge sharing, such as the Cree, Ojibway, Mandan, Assiniboine, Sioux, Lakota, and others. Ancient mounds were once made near the water ways, similar to the mound builders of the south. Lake Winnipeg was considered to be an inland sea, with important river links to the mountains out west, the Great Lakes to the east, and the salt water ocean up north. The Red River linked ancient northern peoples with southern peoples along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The first maps of some areas were made by the Ojibway on birch bark scrolls.