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District Of Keewatin




The District of Keewatin was a former territory of Canada and later a Northwest Territories administration district.


HISTORY AS A TERRITORY 1876 - 1905


The District of Keewatin was created by the passage of the ''Keewatin Act'' on April 12 , 1876 from a portion of Canada 's Northwest Territories . The district ceased being an independent territory in 1905 and was returned to the territories. At the time of its abolition, it covered 228,160 square miles ( 590,932 Km&2 ) - roughly the size of Saskatchewan . At its establishment in 1876 , it encompassed the bulk of what is now Manitoba and north-western Ontario and southern Nunavut . Its territory had been reduced over the years as areas were added to the two provinces.


District of Keewatin Government

The seat of government for the district was in Winnipeg , Manitoba . The territory was run by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and a council of 5 to 10 appointed members known as the Council of Keewatin.

The District of Keewatin did not have any representation in the Canadian House Of Commons or the Canadian Senate .


HISTORY 1905 - 1999

The District of Keewatin became one of three districts in the Northwest Territories. The other two were the , there were just 2,000 persons in the entire district.

The name comes from Algonquian roots - either ''kīwēhtin'' (''ᑮᐍᐦᑎᐣ'') in Cree or ''giiwedin'' (''ᑮᐌᑎᓐ'') in Ojibwe - both of which mean ''north wind'' in their respective languages. In Inuktitut , it was called ''Kivalliq'' (''ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ'') - a name which persists as the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut .

On April 1 , 1999 , the Keewatin Region was formally dissolved, as the Nunavut Territory was created from eastern parts of the Northwest Territories, including all of Keewatin.


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