Category: World

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Ft Mac World

Fascinating Facts About the Cree

  • The Cree language is still widely spoken today, and it is one of the few First Nations languages that has not started to die out or is considered at risk in any way.
  • The Cree still have populations in much of Canada and even some of the USA.
  • The Cree call white men “whem-stook-ooshoo”, and this means from the wooden island when roughly translated. It is believed that this is the name used because the Europeans arrived in wooden boats and ships.
  • As one of the 3 largest tribes still thriving in North America the Cree population numbers may be surprising. It is estimated that more than 200,000 Cree are still living today.
  • The Metis people in Canada are descendants of Cree and the French Canadian explorers who visited the area. The estimated population of Metis people today is over 100,000.
  • Cree may be referred to as Woodland Cree or Plains Cree, but this does not designate two different tribes. These names were started by English explorers and refers to how the native population lived. Plains Cree are simply Cree that live in the prairie regions, especially those in the Alberta and Manitoba regions. The Woodland Cree were named because they prefer the woodland areas further north. Both types of Cree follow the same customs and speak the same language, they just live in different environments.
  • Woodland Cree utilized birch bark to build homes while Plains Cree used the hide of buffalo in order to create teepees used for living.
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Canada World

What are the Athabasca Oil Sands?

The Athabasca Oil Sands consist of large bitumen and heavy oil deposits, and these oil sands are situated in Alberta close to Fort MacMurray. The region is home to the biggest bitumen deposit in the world, and the original Cree population in the area used the deposits from the surface of the sand to waterproof canoes. Today several oil companies have operations in the area and Fort MacMurray is a vital part of the oil recovery operations. The Athabasca Oil Sands are not actually pure sand, instead the material is a mixture of water, silica sand, cruse bitumen, and clay minerals all combined together. The oil produced from these oil sands is vital to meeting the oil and energy needs of Alberta and the rest of Canada.

The Athabasca Oil Sands may also be referred to as the Alberta tar sands, the Athabasca tar sands, or just the sands or oil sands to locals in the area. The buries oil products are situated underneath many acres of forest and peat bogs. There are more than one and a half trillion barrels of crude bitumen contained in the Athabasca Oil Sands. Fort MacMurray has seen an incredible amount of growth over the last 10 years as more oil companies have started to explore, develop, and recover crude bitumen and other petroleum products. Much of the population of Fort MacMurray relies on the oil sands for their livelihood, and the economic boom continues to grow and expand even today. There are always employment opportunities for those who are looking for work in the oil industry in this area.

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Canada Ft Mac World

Interesting Facts About Fort MacMurray International Airport

  • Fort MacMurray International Airport is one of the busiest airports in Canada, with more than 80,000 flight arrivals and departures and almost two million passengers in the last year alone.
  • There is just a single runway at Fort MacMurray International Airport. This runway is made of asphalt and it is more than 7,500 feet long.
  • A new terminal was just completed at the airport to provide room for additional passengers, flights, and staff.
  • Fort MacMurray International Airport is a public airport that is owned and operated by the Fort MacMurray Airport Authority. This is a not for profit organization.
  • In 2013 alone the economic activity  generated by Fort MacMurray International Airport was more than $400 million dollars. The airport is vital to the surrounding community and the oil production efforts in the area.
  • There are over 15 food and beverage outlets in the airport. These include Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Subway, Burger King, Jugo Juice, Earl’s Kitchen, and others.
  • Fort MacMurray International Airport features approximately 22,000 parking spaces that have power, and there are 4 parking stands for aircraft and 4 air bridges as well.
  • A shuttle bus service and a play area for children are just a couple of the amenities that visitors will find at Fort MacMurray International Airport.
  • There are 7 different airlines that arrive and depart at this airport. These include Air Canada, Air Canada Express, McMurray Aviation, Sunwing Airlines, WestJet Encore, Northwestern Air, and WestJet.
  • There are 2 baggage carousels at Fort MacMurray International Airport for passenger luggage.