Pakuashipi (Pakua Shipi, or Pakua Shipu in

Innu-aimun 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 comm ...

and St-Augustin Indian Settlement) is an

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 ...

community in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

of Quebec, located on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in the Côte-Nord region. It is on the western shore of the mouth of the Saint-Augustin River, opposite the settlement of Saint-Augustin. It is not an Indian reserve, but an

Indian settlement An Indian settlement is a census subdivision outlined by the Canadian government Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada for census purposes. These areas have at least 10 status Indian or non-status Indian people who live, m ...

within the Municipality of Saint-Augustin, occupied by the Innu band of Pakua Shipi. Although they hold no formal

legal title Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

to the land at this time, negotiations are still ongoing to determine their indigenous rights. The community is serviced by a health centre, a community centre, a church, a school, a community store, a youth centre, a community radio station, an inn, municipal water and sewer system, fire station, and an indigenous police force. Pakuashipi is the Innu name of the

Saint-Augustin River The Saint-Augustin River (french: Rivière Saint-Augustin, Innu: ''Pakut-shipu'') is a salmon river in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. It empties into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Location The Saint-Augustin River has its source in the m ...

and means "shallow river", from ''pakua'' ("drained" or "dried up") and ''shipi'' ("river"). The inhabitants of this settlement are identified by other Innu groups as the ''Pakua-shipiunnuat'', and are considered the most traditional, the most conservative Innu band, in terms of both culture and language.

History

The area was originally home to nomadic

and Inuit tribes. Most of them, however, were displaced once Europeans began to exploit the area. In July 1949, the

Government of Quebec A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

offered to the Innu population land with an area of in order to create a reserve. But this was refused by the Government of Canada who deemed its population too small to justify such a decision. In the early 1960s, in order to provide essential services, the federal government decided to incorporate the Saint-Augustin group with the band at La Romaine reserve and relocated them there. But during the night, in a storm, the group returned to their ancestral land. On June 4, 1971, the Quebec Ministry of Lands and Forests authorized the Government of Canada to build houses for the First Nations people of Saint Augustin on the current site. On July 27, 1987, the Saint Augustin Band changed its name to "Pakua Shipi Montagnais Band".Natural Resources Canada - Legal Surveys Division, Historical Review
Saint-Augustin land title history

Demographics

As of July 2021, the band had a registered population of 401 people. The number of private dwellings occupied by usual residents is 65 out of a total of 90. As of the

2016 Canadian census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...

mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

s spoken are as follows: * English as first language: 0.0% * French as first language: 6.4% * English and French as first language: 0% *

: 87.28% * Other responses: 6.4% Population trend (1991 - 2016): * Population in 2016: 237 −24.0 * Population in 2011: 312 +8.0% * Population in 2006: 289 +26.8% * Population in 2001: 228 −5.8% * Population in 1996: 242 +14.7% * Population in 1991: 211

Education

There is only one school on the settlement, ''École Pakuashipish'', that provides pre-Kindergarten to Secondary grade 4, and had an enrolment of 88 students in 2008-2009.

References

External links

Bande des Montagnais de Pakua Shipi
{{authority control Innu communities in Quebec Communities in Côte-Nord Indian settlements in Quebec