This area was inhabited for thousands of years by varying cultures of
indigenous peoples. At the time of European contact, the historic Swampy Cree, an
Algonquian-speaking people, lived in the area. In 1689 the
Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Severn at this site, originally naming it Fort James; it was one of the earliest
English fur trading posts in the
New World. After years of international competition between the English and French, with their wars playing out in North America, the French attacked the outpost and
pillaged it in 1782 when they were allies of the
Thirteen Colonies during the
American Revolutionary War. In the early 20th century, when the federal government negotiated a treaty with the First Nations, it set aside land for a native reserve in the Rocksand area at the confluence of the
Severn and
Sachigo Rivers, with the consent of the leaders at the time. In 1973, the reserve was relocated to the mouth of the Severn River on
Hudson Bay, for more direct access to shipping. The reserve achieved full status on January 11, 1980. ==Government==