Mamawetan Churchill River Health Region

Air Ronge

The community of Air Ronge is located between the Town of La Ronge and the Far Reserve and Kitsaki Reserves. It is situated on the west shore of Lac La Ronge, at the mouth of the Montreal River.

The majority of community services in Air Ronge originate from the Town of La Ronge.
The Northern Village of Air Ronge administers the community of Air Ronge. The Town of La Ronge provides some services. Like La Ronge, tourism and mining are a large industry in Air Ronge.

La Ronge

The town of La Ronge has held a rich history. The interconnecting waterways were used for transportation, hunting, and trading by the Cree Indians; during the summer and winter. Later, fur traders came up the Churchill River from the east, settling on the north end of Lac La Ronge and using it as a base for further exploration.

The Churchill River bears evidence of human activity from many hundreds of years ago. Pictographs painted on the granite rocks with red ochre show hunting scenes that the early inhabitants recorded as they ventured out to find food for their families.

The fur trade years marked the beginning of accelerated activity in the area. The Northwest Company and the Revillion Freres were both active at this time, later combining to become the Hudson's Bay Company. There were several old fur trading posts around the shores of Lac La Ronge, many now buried by vegetation.

In 1948 the road from Prince Albert had been completed, and although it was a long and arduous journey, it reduced the need for the Montreal River as a major travel conduit. It also changed the outlook of the area from water-based to highway-based. Since then supplies, personnel, and eventually tourists came from the south. The local population though, never lost its dependence on water for getting to places, and that has not changed much today. There is total mobility by both water and road. The tourism industry started in the late 30's, when people began to fly in to experience the rich fishing available on Lac La Ronge and other surrounding lakes. Between the 1950's and 1970's the road gradually pushed north of La Ronge to take advantage of resource and increase mineral exploration.

Creighton/ Denare Beach

The population of this East Side community is 1,713. Creighton is situated in northeastern Saskatchewan near the Saskatchewan-Manitoba boundary. The town is three kilometres southwest of Flin Flon, and just less than 400 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert.

Creighton had its beginnings in the 1930's after the Department of Natural Resources constructed a road from Flin Flon to Amisk Lake. After the end of the Second World War the Department of Natural Resources surveyed a townsite and lots were made available for building residential homes and businesses. Creighton was incorporated as a village in 1952 when the population was 1200. The Village was raised to Town status in 1957 with a population of 1705.

Being in the Precambrian Shield, the chief industry is mining. The Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company, which has two mines in the Flin Flon-Creighton area developed a mining, milling and smelting complex in the late 1920's and early 1930's. The principal minerals are copper and zinc, with smaller amounts of gold, silver, cadmium and other minerals. Other resources in the area are forestry and tourism. Tourist resorts are located at nearby lakes such as Amisk Lake, Jan Lake, Deschambault Lake, Pelican Lakes, and Leaf Rapids. All these resorts are on all-weather roads.

Pinehouse

The community of Pinehouse is located on a gentle rise of land at the western shore of Pinehouse Lake. It is a sparsely settled area of the Saskatchewan northern forest.