Sioux Lookout, Ontario

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Sioux Lookout is a small town in northern Ontario, Canada. It has a population of 5336. It is serviced by the Sioux Lookout Airport. There are a number of fishing camps in the area that allow access to an extensive lake system fed by the English River. The town figures prominently in the novel The Cunning Man by Robertson Daviesas well as the 1952 novel Crazy White Man : Sha-ga-ne-she Wa-du-kee by Richard Morenus .

Main Industries: Services, (68%) - Forestry, (14%) - Tourism, (4%) - Transportation, (12%)

[edit] History

The name of Sioux Lookout comes from a nearby mountain. This mountain was used in the late 1700’s by Ojibway Indians to watch for Sioux warriors coming to ambush their camp. The Ojibway ended up doing the ambushing and killed all but one of the Sioux. There may be other versions of this story, but this is the only one told in Ojibway country. The strategic location made Sioux Lookout a great surveyors camp in the early 1900’s. On Sioux Mountain, early canoe brigades using the English River System could be spotted from a great distance. Hudson Airport in Sioux Lookout was one of the busiest airports in North America during the Red Lake Gold Rush.

Present day Sioux Lookout was incorporated in 1912 and was then a terminal point on the C.N.R. Trans-Canada line. For many years, Sioux Lookout was simply a railway town. Now, the C.N.R. is a significant employer, but it is not the base of the municipality’s economy. The forest industry is an important part of the economy. Its inherent instability is partly offset by the stability of the service sector. As a result, Sioux Lookout barely felt the effects of the recession of the early 1980’s. Tourism makes a significant contribution to the economy, but its potential is just beginning to be tapped.

Urban Sioux Lookout fronts on Pelican Lake, and the municipality undertook a lakefront improvement program to beautify this area. There are now more parks, paths, and other recreational facilities along the lakefront. Numerous other lakes are easily accessible by car or boat from Sioux Lookout.