Nipawin, Saskatchewan

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Nipawin is a town located in north-east Saskatchewan, Canada on the Saskatchewan River. Industries in the area include agriculture. tourism, vegetable oil processing, honey production and lumber.

The town lies between Codette Lake, created by the Francois-Finlay Hydro Dam (built in 1986) and Tobin Lake, created by the E.B. Campbell Hydro Dam (built in 1963). Nipawin has become a tourist destination featuring camping, boating, golfing, hunting and fishing. Nipawin hosts two annual fishing events: The Great Northern Pike Festival, a summer-long event offering prizes for catching tagged fish, and the Saskatchewan Premier's Walleye Cup, a weekend fishing derby.

Nipawin is a Cree word meaning "a bed, or resting place" which referred to a low-lying area along the river now flooded by Codette Lake where Native American women and children would camp and wait for the men to arrive from treks by canoe.

The first permanent settlement of Nipawin occurred in 1910 with the establishment of a trading post. In 1924 the Canadian Pacific Railway passed nearby, and the settlement was moved, building by building, to its current location to be closer to the railway.

Nipawin is one of several Saskatchewan towns whose population has fluctated around the 5,000 mark in the last decade (5,000 being the legislated threshold at which a town may apply for city status in the province). Presently, the population is around 4,200, well below the threshold.

The name Nipawin was also given to Nipawin Provincial Park, a large recreational park some distance to the northwest of the town. In the 1990s the park was renamed Narrow Hills Provincial Park.

One of the major forms of entertainment in town is the Nipawin Hawks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Hawks are currently coached by Hardy Sauter.

[edit] Statistics

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According to the Canada 2001 Census:

Population:	4,275 (-1.0% from 1996)
Land area:	8.02 km²
Population density:	533.4 people/km²
Median age:	42.8 (males: 40.2, females: 45.6)
Total private dwellings:	1,985
Mean household income:	$29,388