Fort Simpson was originally established by the Hudson’s Bay Company at a location on the north shore of the Nass River estuary. In the summer of 1834, the Hudson’s Bay Company moved its fort to a site on the Tsimshian peninsula at McLoughlin Bay, which is now called Port Simpson, British Columbia (Patterson 1994). In 1858 and 1894, Roman Catholic missionaries reached Fort Simpson and permanently resided there. The Roman Catholic Mission provided many resources for the community, such as St. Margaret’s Hospital built in 1916 and a school in St. Margaret’s Hall built in 1917. St. Margaret’s Hall was replaced by the Federal Day School in 1974 and was run by the Federal Government. Fort Simpson is still inhabited today and is a quite popular tourist destination. It is the only village in the Northwest Territories with a population of approximately 1,250. Some people of Fort Simpson still identify as Dene. Fort Simpson is accessible via airplane or highway. The Liard Trail Highway leads to Fort Simpson from British Columbia and the Mackenzie Highway reaches Fort Simpson from Alberta. Since both of these highways pass through expanses of nature, it is possible to see black bear, moose, woodland caribou, lynx, wolves, and bison alongside the highways (Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce n.d.). 

References

Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce. n.d. Fort Simpson Nortwest Territories Canada. Accessed May 8, 2017. http://www.fortsimpson.com.

Patterson, E. Palmer. 1994. ""The Indians Stationary Here": Continuity and Change in the Origins of the Fort Simpson Tsimshian." Anthropologica 181-203.

Chief Jim Antoine was the Chief of the Liidlii Kue First Nation. At this time he had been Chief of these people for a year. The Liidlii Kue people had a lot of issues with the white people and the way they treated their land and treated the Liidii Kue people. The Liidii Kue people were against the pipeline and they tried to follow appropriate measures to make their voices heard. Chief Jim Antoine would speak out about the issues the Liidlii Kue people felt passionate about. Due to the racial tensions in Simpson, the tension was often taken out on Chief Antoine every time he spoke out. Because of Chief Antoine’s efforts the nonnatives attacked him for attempting to speak out on behalf of his people. The Liidlii Kue people are so frustrated with their efforts to be heard, being shut down, that they were at the point where Chief Antoine was ready to work on changing the system in order to create respect for the Liidlii Kue people on their land.

Proceedings at Community Hearing. Proceedings of Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, Fort Simpson, NWT. Vol. 26. Burnaby, BC: Allwest Reporting Ltd, 2003. 1-111. Accessed March 5, 2017.