Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan, is a northern village in Canada that offers a unique blend of history, culture, and natural beauty. This community of 1,110 people is nestled between Peter Pond Lake and Churchill Lake, making it a hub for tourism and resource extraction activities such as logging and fishing.
Buffalo Narrows, also known as Détroit du Boeuf in French, was established in the early 20th century by Scandinavian traders as a trapping, mink ranching, and fishing settlement. The community grew around an earlier Dene settlement. In September 1875, John Macoun, a traveler on the fur trade route from Methye Portage to Lac Île-à-la-Crosse, visited the "Narrows". He described his visit to this old community, highlighting the "Chipewyan House" situated at the eastern end of the "Narrows". This house, where Macoun stayed for about four days, was likely a small outpost of the Hudson's Bay Company. The names of the surrounding lakes have changed over time, with Clearwater Lake renamed to Churchill Lake in 1944 and Buffalo Lake to Peter Pond Lake in 1932.
On 30 January 1969, Buffalo Narrows was the site of a tragic event known as the axe massacre. The Pedersen family and their friend John Herman were killed by 19-year-old Métis labourer Frederick Moses McCallum. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, McCallum was found not guilty by reason of insanity and as of February 2019, resides in Ontario.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Buffalo Narrows had a population of 1,014 living in 373 of its 449 total private dwellings. This represented a change of -8.6% from its 2016 population of 1,110. With a land area of 68.04 km2 (26.27 sq mi), it had a population density of 14.9/km2 (38.6/sq mi) in 2021.
Buffalo Narrows experiences a humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) bordering on a subarctic climate (Dfc). The summers are comfortably warm with cool nights, while the winters are very cold and dry.
Buffalo Narrows is renowned for its picturesque scenery and the bridge that crosses the Kisis Channel. This bridge, which was officially opened in 1981, replaced a ferry that was set up in 1957. The channel links Peter Pond Lake and Churchill Lake.
Just 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of downtown Buffalo Narrows is the Sand Dunes Park. This park, which spans 3,650 hectares (14.1 sq mi), includes a peninsula that nearly cuts Peter Pond Lake in two, creating Little Peter Pond and Big Peter Pond. The park was transferred to the northern village of Buffalo Narrows in 2003, and the community has since been responsible for its maintenance and development. The beach is a nesting site for the vulnerable sparrow-sized piping plover.
Buffalo Narrows is connected to the rest of Saskatchewan by Highway 155, which is paved along its entire length. The community is served by the Buffalo Narrows Airport and the Buffalo Narrows Water Aerodrome.
