Natashquan is a municipality in

Minganie Regional County Municipality Minganie is a regional county municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It includes Anticosti Island. Its seat is Havre-Saint-Pierre. It has an area of according to Quebec's ''Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et ...

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...

region,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It should not be confused with the adjacent but separate

Innu The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the ...

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

Nutashkuan Nutashkuan ( INAC) or Natashquan (CGNDB) (sometimes Natashquan 1) is a First Nations reserve in the Canadian province of Quebec, belonging to the Première Nation des Innus de Nutashkuan band. The reserve is located on the north shore of the Gu ...

. The municipality is named after the

Natashquan River The Natashquan is a river in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. It flows south into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Geography The river has its source just south of the boundary between the Atlantic and Saint Lawrence ...

, which had already been mapped and named in the 17th century. It comes from the

Innu language Innu-aimun or Montagnais is an Algonquian language spoken by over 10,000 Innu in Labrador and Quebec in Eastern Canada. It is a member of the Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi dialect continuum and is spoken in various dialects depending on the commu ...

, meaning "where one hunts for bear". In addition to the village of Natashquan itself, the municipality also includes the small community of Pointe-Parent () that is located on the Natashquan River, directly adjacent to the Natashquan Reserve. It is home to some fishermen's homes and was served by a post office from 1953 to 1976. Once also known as Pointe-du-Poste and Village-du-Poste, Pointe-Parent was named after priest Pierre-Clément Parent (1733–1784) who served as missionary in

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village in Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. The indigenous Innu call the place ''Totouskak'' (plural for ''totouswk'' or ''totochak'') meaning "bosom", probably in reference to the t ...

and

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

and died in Natashquan.

History

While

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of th ...

had visited the area in 1534 and a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

already existed in 1710 at the mouth of the Natashquan River, the settlement of Natashquan in the eponymous township was not founded until 1855 when the first settlers arrived. They were

Acadians The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the des ...

from the

Magdalen Islands The Magdalen Islands (french: Îles de la Madeleine ) are a small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with a land area of . While part of the Province of Quebec, the islands are in fact closer to the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland th ...

, particularly from Amherst Island (''île du Havre Aubert''). That same year, the Notre-Dame-de-Natashquan Mission was founded on the west bank of the Little Natashquan River. In 1869, the township was officially established, and in August 1872, the post office opened. In 1907, the place was incorporated as a township municipality. For many decades Natashquan was dependent on fishing, but nowadays few fishermen remain. In 1958, the first electricity cooperative was formed and electricity was finally installed in homes. Television followed in the 1970s. Before 1996, it was only accessible via boat or airplane. That year, Route 138 was extended to Natashquan, connecting it to

Havre-Saint-Pierre Havre-Saint-Pierre is a town on Pointe-aux-Esquimaux, which is on the Quebec north shore (Côte-Nord) of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. Located along Route 138 some east of Sept-Îles, it is the largest town and seat of the Minganie RCM, ...

and ending its isolation from Quebec's road network. On June 18, 2016, Natashquan changed status from township municipality to a (regular) municipality.

Geography

The community is located on the north shore of the

Jacques Cartier Strait The Jacques Cartier Strait (French: ''Détroit de Jacques-Cartier'') is a strait in eastern Quebec, Canada, flowing between Anticosti Island and the Labrador Peninsula. It is one of the two outlets of the Saint Lawrence River into its estuary, the ...

and the

Gulf of Saint Lawrence , image = Baie de la Tour.jpg , alt = , caption = Gulf of St. Lawrence from Anticosti National Park, Quebec , image_bathymetry = Golfe Saint-Laurent Depths fr.svg , alt_bathymetry = Bathymetry ...

, straddling both banks of the Little Natashquan River, some east of

. The township is bordered on the east and south by the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

of the Natashquan River, and encompasses an area that is riddled with numerous small ponds and lakes.

Climate

Natashquan experiences a borderline

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfc'') that is just short of being classed as a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Köppen ''Dfb''). Summers are mild, moderated by the Gulf of St Lawrence and winters are cold and snowy, with annual snowfall averaging 140 inches (356 cm).

Demographics

Language

Mother tongue: * English as first language: 0% * French as first language: 96.2% * English and French as first language: 0% * Other as first language: 3.8%

Transport

The main road through Natashquan is

Quebec Route 138 Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the Saint Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The western terminus is in El ...

, and it is also served by

Natashquan Airport Natashquan Airport is located adjacent to Natashquan, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic O ...

and Natashquan (Lac de l'Avion) Water Aerodrome.

Notable people

Natashquan was the birthplace of singer

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebec's unofficial anthems: "Mon pays" and "Gens du pays", an ...

, who named a song after the municipality ("C'est à Natashquan") on the 2008 album ''Arriver Chez Soi''.

References

External links

Natashquan official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natashquan, Quebec (Municipality) Municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Côte-Nord Minganie Regional County Municipality