Waswanipi () is a

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

community in the Eeyou Istchee territory of central

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, located along Route 113 and near the confluence of the

Chibougamau Chibougamau () is the largest town in Nord-du-Québec, central Quebec, Canada. Located on Lake Gilman, it has a population of 7,233 people (2021 Canadian census). Chibougamau is surrounded by, but not part of, the local municipality of Eeyou ...

and

Waswanipi River The Waswanipi River is a tributary of Matagami Lake. The Waswanipi River flows in the Municipality of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James in the administrative region of Nord-du-Québec, in Quebec, Canada. Geography The main hydrographic slopes adjacent ...

s. It has a population of 459 people (

Canada 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

). ''Waswanipi'' is a

compound word In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or Sign language, sign) that consists of more than one Word stem, stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. C ...

composed of ''wâswân'' (a place to fish at night using a torch) and ''-pî'' (lake), meaning "torch-fishing lake" but colloquially translated as "light over the water" referring to the traditional night-time fishing method of luring fish to light by using torches. The original location of the village was on an island in

Lake Waswanipi Lake Waswanipi is a lake located in municipality of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipalité), in administrative region of Nord-du-Québec, in Quebec, in Canada. Waswanipi Lake extends into the townships of Bergères, Bossé, Nelligan, Bellin and ...

(). It was the site of a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

trading post until 1965 when the post was closed. Its residents dispersed until 1978 when the new village of Waswanipi was built about 47 km upstream the Waswanipi River from the former location.

Demographics

Waswanipi is a trilingual community, the majority of its residences speaking the Southern

East Cree East Cree, also known as James Bay (Eastern) Cree, and East Main Cree, is a group of Cree dialects spoken in Quebec, Canada on the east coast of lower Hudson Bay and James Bay, and inland southeastward from James Bay. Cree is one of the most s ...

dialect of the

Cree language Cree ( ; also known as Cree–Montagnais language, Montagnais–Naskapi language, Naskapi) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 86,475 people across Canada in 2021, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to ...

. Aside from the elderly people, who tend to be monolingual Cree speakers, the majority of the population speaks, in addition to Cree, either English or French, some speaking both.

Education

The

Cree School Board Cree School Board (CSB; ; ) is a school district in northern Quebec, headquartered in Mistissini, with an additional office in the James Bay Eeyou School in Chisasibi. While most Quebec school boards are categorized by language, CSB is categorize ...

operates three schools: Willie J. Happyjack Memorial School (ᐧᐃᓖ ᒉᐄ ᐦᐋᐲᒑᒃ ᒋᔅᑯᑕᒫᒉᐅᑲᒥᒄ), Rainbow Elementary School (ᐲᓯᒧᔮᐲ ᒋᔅᑯᑕᒫᒉᐅᑲᒥᒄ) and Jolina Gull-Blacksmith Memorial School. Happyjack has 536 students.Willie J. Happyjack Memorial School and Rainbow Elementary School
"

. Retrieved on September 23, 2017.

References

External links

Official Site of Waswanipi
Cree villages in Quebec Innu communities in Quebec Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Eeyou Istchee (territory) {{Quebec-geo-stub

Demographics

Education

See also

References

External links