the southeast part of the ecozone, in what is known as the James Bay Lowland. But it is half that at the extreme northwestern end, around Churchill, in Manitoba.

Since the climate and wetlands are not conducive to agriculture, and there are no forests or minerals, the inhabitants of the Hudson Plains live mainly through hunting, trapping, and fishing. Only about 10,000 people live in the zone, just under 10 percent of them in Churchill. Other major communities, scattered though the region, include York Factory, Fort Severn, Attawapiskat, Moosonee, Moose Factory, and Waskaganish. Many of these were once Hudson’s Bay Company posts dating back to the seventeenth century. Before that, they were the sites of ancient settlements of Algonquian-speaking peoples like the Cree.

There is only one National Park on the

Hudson Plains – Wapusk, Cree for “White Bear,” a reminder of the polar bears that inhabit this protected area. The female bears are known to travel up to 80 kilometres inland to dig earth dens in the permafrost for giving birth to and protecting their young.