 Sapporo's name was taken from Ainuic ""sat poro pet"" (), which can be translated as the "dry, great river", a reference to the Toyohira River.Before its establishment, the area occupied by Sapporo (known as the Ishikari Plain) was home to a number of indigenous Ainu settlements.In 1866, at the end of the Edo period, construction began on a canal through the area, encouraging a number of early settlers to establish Sapporo village.