Nelson House is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Thompson and is accessible via the mixed paved and gravel Provincial Road 391.
Men from South Indian Lake were sent to establish a post in Nelson House and construction had begun in 1800.
In 1827, the Nelson House Hudson's Bay Company post was closed due to poor fur returns.
In the mid-1870s, the Indigenous peoples of the Lake Winnipeg area were interested in making a treaty with the Government of Canada.
They had heard about the concessions offered to the Indigenous nations of Treaties 1 to 4, and subsequently demanded the government provide similar economic assistance, provisions of tools and protection against the encroachment of outsiders (such as surveyors and settlers) on their territories.
[6] Treaty 5, a document which established that Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation members and their descendants were guaranteed certain rights and benefits.
Nelson House consists of eleven areas, which are known to the residents as Westwood, School Road, Hillside, Dogpoint, R.C.
The project included the Churchill River Diversion, which directly affected Nisichawayasihk members living at Nelson House and at South Indian Lake.
Using settlement proceeds paid pursuant to this implementation agreement, NCN purchased the Mystery Lake Motor Hotel in the nearby city of Thompson.
This event marked one of the few transitions from privately owned land, purchased by a First Nations community, to an urban reserve.
This plan was quietly discussed between city and band administration since the narrowly-lost plebiscite held in Thompson on 18 September 2001.