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.

There is no hospital in Fort Severn, with medical needs provided either at the local nursing station or via Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telemedicine (KOTM) link.

Keewaytinook Internet High School is housed in a small building and provides distance learning for residents needing secondary education.

[6]Fort James, a British settlement controlled by a governor who reports to the king and who represents Hudson Bay Company,[7] is the principal setting of the 2016 television series, Frontier.

As Ann Foster describes for ScreenerTV, "'Frontier' is set in the coastal settlement of Fort James: A snowy, treacherous pocket of land that would, in a century’s time, become part of Canada.