Lake Winnipeg Place Names

by John Boulette
Norway House, Manitoba

Manitoba Pageant, September 1957, Volume 3, Number 1

This article was published originally in Manitoba Pageant by the Manitoba Historical Society on the above date. We make this online version available as a free, public service. As an historical document, the article may contain language and views that are no longer in common use and may be culturally sensitive in nature. Please direct inquiries to webmaster@mhs.mb.ca. Help us keep history alive!

Hecla: (Called locally Reykjavik, after the capital of Iceland). Named after a volcano in Iceland.

Hole River: (Or Hollow Water or Wanipigow River) has two stories: 1) That previous to the building of a dam on the upper reaches of the river, the Indians used to travel to a maple grove to make maple syrup. The branches of the trees so over-hung the river, that it looked as though one were entering a hole. 2) That Wanipigow means "hole" in Cree, and that the river enters the lake through a hole in the rock.

Warren's Landing: S.S. Keenora landing. Largest fish station on Lake Winnipeg. Mossy Point is another name. After John Warren, Hudson's Bay Company gentlemen who came out with the second Selkirk Party in 1812, and who died here of wounds received in a skirmish at Red River in 1815, and was given a military funeral.

Page revised: 30 June 2009