Opataouaga Lake is a freshwater body of the

Broadback River The Broadback River (french: Rivière Broadback) (In Cree: ''Chistamiskau Sipi'') is a river in northern Quebec, Canada. It drains into Rupert Bay (a smaller bay at the south end of James Bay), just south of the Rupert River and Cree community Wask ...

hydrographic slope of the municipality of Eeyou Istchee James Bay (municipality), in the administrative region of

Nord-du-Québec Nord-du-Québec (; en, Northern Quebec) is the largest, but the least populous, of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada. With nearly of land area, and very extensive lakes and rivers, it covers much of the Labrador Peninsula ...

, in

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 ...

, in

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 Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Forestry is the main economic activity of the sector. Recreational tourism activities come second with a large navigable body of water upstream of

Lake Poncheville Lake Poncheville is a freshwater body in of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality), in the administrative region of Nord-du-Québec, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. The southern part of the lake is part of the townships of Des Combes and Gr ...

, and downstream Quénonisca Lake and the

. The hydrographic slope of lake Opataouaga is accessible through the forest road R1023 (East-West direction) coming from the West and passing north of “Île au Pain de Sucre” (''English: Sugarloaf Island''); the R1023 connects the "James Bay Road" (North-South direction) that comes from Matagami; from “Île au Pain de Sucre”, this road heads north-east to the west side of Lac Rocher. The surface of Opataouaga Lake is usually frozen from early November to mid-May, however, safe ice circulation is generally from mid-November to mid-April.

Geography

Toponymy

Of Cree origin, this hydronym means "the lake with the sandy tip". This toponymic designation is indicated in the "Fifth Report of the Geographic Board of Canada 1904", published in Ottawa in 1905, page 46, under the graph: "Opatawaga; Lake, Northeast of Mattagami Lake, Abitibi District, Que. (Not Opiwatakan)". The toponym ''Lake Opataouaga'' was formalized on December 5, 1968 at the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (English: ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicize Québec's place names and their origins according ...

, at the creation of this commission.Commission de toponymie du Quebec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym: "Opataouaga Lake"
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Geography

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also