Medicine Hat
From Rap Dictionary
>===Medicine Hat===
Medicine Hat, known to locals as "The Hat", is a city of 60,000 people located in the southeastern part of the province of Alberta, Canada. It is enclaved within Cypress County along with the nearby town of Redcliff, although neither is part of the county.
It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, the eastern terminus of the Crowsnest Highway, and the South Saskatchewan River. Nearby towns considered part of the Medicine Hat area include Dunmore, Seven Persons, Redcliff, and Irvine. The Cypress Hills (including Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park) is a relatively short distance (by car) to the southeast of the city. Its major claim to fame is Rudyard Kipling's famous line "all hell for a basement" referring to the vast reserves of natural gas beneath it. Because of the reserves, the city is known as The Gas City. It is Alberta's sixth largest city.
In October 2008, Medicine Hat was named one of Alberta's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Calgary Herald[4] and the Edmonton Journal.
Names orgin
The name "Medicine Hat" is the English translation of 'Saamis' (SA-MUS)- the Blackfoot word for the eagle tail feather headdress worn by medicine men - or 'Medicine Hat'. Several legends are associated with the name from a mythical merman river serpent named Soy-yee-daa-bee, the creator, who appeared to a hunter and instructed him to sacrifice his wife to get mystical powers which were manifest in a special hat. Another legend tells of a battle long ago between the Blackfeet and the Cree in which a retreating "Medicine Man" lost his headdress in the South Saskatchewan River.
A number of factors have always made Medicine Hat a natural gathering place. Prior to the arrival of Europeans the Blackfoot, Cree and Assiniboine nations used the area for hundreds of years. The gently sloping valley with its converging water ways and hardy native cottonwood trees attracted both man and the migratory bison herds
Demographics
In 2006, Medicine Hat had a population of 56,997 living in 24,729 dwellings, an 11.2% increase from 2001. The city has a land area of 112.01 km² (43.2 sq mi) and a population density of 508.9/km² (1,318/sq mi).
More than 89 percent of residents identified English as their first language at the time of the 2006 census, while 6 percent identified German and just over 1 percent each identified Spanish and French as their first language learned. The next most common languages were Ukrainian, Chinese, Dutch, and Polish.
More than 79 percent of residents identified as Christian at the time of the 2001 census while almost 20 percent indicated they had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations Statistics Canada counted 16,175 Roman Catholics (26.5 percent), 9,445 members of the United Church of Canada (15.5 percent), and 6,170 Lutherans (slightly more than 10 percent). Less numerous denominations included 3,780 Anglicans (more than 6 percent), 1,745 members of the Evangelical Missionary Church (almost 3 percent), 1,470 Baptists (over 2 percent), 1,220 identifying as Pentecostal (2 percent), 1,215 Mormons (2 percent), and 675 Presbyterians (just over 1 percent).
Based on previous elections, Medicine Hat is the most conservative riding in Canada with the Conservative Party of Canada garnering anywhere between 70 - 80% of the vote.
Neighbourhoods
North Flats, South flats, SE Hill, SW Hill, riverside, River Heights, Crescent Heights, Parkview, Ranchlands, Southview, Park Meadows, Crestwood and Norwood, Ross Glen, South Ridge, South Vista Heights, Saamis Heights, Southlands, Cottonwood, Desert Blume
