 the churchill river is a river in newfoundland and labrador which flows east from the smallwood reservoir in labrador into the atlantic ocean via lake melville. the river is  long and drains an area of ; it is the longest river in the province. this river is still known locally as mishtashipu by the innu, and the grand river by the people of nunatukavut, the people of nunatsiavut, and settlers who identify as labradorians. 1821, captain william martin, in command of hm brig clinker, took it upon himself to name it hamilton river after sir charles hamilton, who was governor of newfoundland from 1818 to 1825. in 1965, it was renamed, without consultation, by premier joey smallwood, to honour former prime minister of the united kingdom sir winston churchill on february&nbsp;1, 1965 though never officially recognized by the people of the labrador territories. == geography==  == hydroelectric projects ==  churchill falls is the site of a major hydroelectric project, which has a rated capacity of 5,428 mw. other hydroelectric plants on the river are planned bringing the total to over 9,200 mw. the churchill falls development has become a source of friction between two canadian provinces. the province of newfoundland and labrador believes that hydro-quÃ©bec, which provided a major part of the financing and access to the north american power grid, has taken a disproportionate share of the profits from this development. hydro-quÃ©bec buys power from the churchill falls project at rates established in 1969. == further reading == |thumb|left|a.p. low and party on a hauling picnic up lake winokapau, hamilton river (now thechurchill river), labrador, 1894. *  ==see also== *list of longest rivers of canada *list of rivers of newfoundland and labrador 
Churchill_Falls Rivers_of_Newfoundland_and_Labrador