History of the Northwest Territories History of the Northwest Territories The History of the Northwest Territories begins with the population of the region by First Nations peoples, and proceeds through the transformation of it into provinces and territories of the nation of Canada, including the modern administrative unit of the Northwest Territories. When Europeans settlers began to divide the continent, the Northwest Territories included much of the sparsely populated regions of what is now western Canada. Over time, the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba were formed out of the territories. In 1898, the Yukon territory became a separate entity and in 1999 Nunavut was
Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) deposits. The island was believed to have deposits of coal and oil shale since the first half of the 20th century. The first Canadian Arctic island exploratory well was spudded in 1961 at Winter Harbour. It drilled Lower Paleozoic strata to a total depth of . In the 1970s, the northern portion of the island on the east side of the Sabine Peninsula proved to contain a major gas field, known as Drake Point. The lease was owned by Panarctic Oils, a joint operation with the Canadian Government. Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) Melville Island is an uninhabited island