Wemotaci (designated as Weymontachie 23 until 1997) is a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

reserve on the north shore of the

Saint-Maurice River The Saint-Maurice River (french: Rivière Saint-Maurice; Atikamekw: ''Tapiskwan sipi'') flows north to south in central Quebec from Gouin Reservoir to empty into the Saint Lawrence River at Trois-Rivières, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. F ...

at the mouth of the Manouane River in the

Mauricie Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km² (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

region of Quebec, Canada. Together with the

Obedjiwan Obedjiwan (officially designated as Obedjiwan 28) is a First Nations reserve and village on the north shore of Gouin Reservoir in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. It belongs to the Atikamekw of Opitciwan band of the Atikamekw Nation. Ge ...

and the

Coucoucache Indian Reserve No. 24 Coucoucache (; officially designated as Coucoucache 24A) was a tiny First Nation reserve, in Cloutier Township, on the north shore of Reservoir Blanc on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. It belonged to the Atikamek ...

, it belongs to the Atikamekw First Nation.Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - Aboriginal Community profile
Wemotaci First Nation
/ref> The reserve, an enclave within the city of

La Tuque La Tuque (; ) is a city located in north-central Quebec, Canada, on the Saint-Maurice River, between Trois-Rivières and Chambord. The population was 11,227 at the Canada 2011 Census, most of which live within the urban area. At over 28,000 sq ...

, is bordered to the west and south by the Saint-Maurice River, whereas its eastern boundary is about long, and its northern boundary is . It is accessible by gravel road from La Tuque's town centre through the hamlet of Sanmaur that is on the opposite shore of the Saint-Maurice River. Also at this location, the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

crosses the river and has a siding at Sanmaur.

Economy

The local economy is based on the art and craft, shops and services, forestry, trapping, construction, tourism, transport and outfitters.

Etymology

Like many other native names, Wemotaci underwent many spelling variations over time. The oldest reference to the toponym is from 1724. In 1827, it was written as ''Montachene'', and in 1829 as ''Weymontachinque'', in 1830 as ''Waimootansking'', in 1832 as ''Weymontachingue'' and ''Warmontashingen'', in 1837 as ''Warmontaching''. The 1932 spelling of Weymontachingue on the map of John Arrowsmith became the most common form until 1986, when it was replaced by ''Weymontachie'', as demanded by the local band council. The standardized writing of the

Atikamekw language Atikamekw (endonym: ''Atikamekw Nehiromowin'', literally "Atikamekw native language") is a variety of the Algonquian language Cree and the language of the Atikamekw people of southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is spoken by nearly all the Atikamekw ...

spells it as Wemotaci, which was made official in March 1997.

History

The area of the upper Saint-Maurice River had long been the homeland and hunting grounds of the Atikamekw indigenous people. Some sources claim that the

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

had already established a trading post at this place between 1770 and 1780, but this remains doubtful. Confirmation of the existence of a trading post at Wemotaci came in 1806, when Jean-Baptiste Perrault built the first structures for fur trading. In 1821, the post was taken over by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

. In 1851, the Government enacted the allotment of of land as reserves for the use and benefit of the "Indian" tribes residing in Lower Canada. Two years later, these lands were distributed among the Atikamekw, Algonquins, and Abenakis by John Rolph, Commissioner of Crown Lands. On August 9, 1853, this was made official by the Governor General in Council.Natural Resources Canada - Legal Surveys Division, Historical Review
Wemotaci
/ref> But the Atikamekw didn't give up their nomadic life and settle on the reserve. And it wasn't until 1895 that the reserve was surveyed. The construction of a dam and the

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg and Moncton in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion of construction of Canada's ...

led to the growth of the Sanmaur settlement, which in turn attracted the Atikamekw to the reserve at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1939 however, the Hudson's Bay Company left Weymontachingue and due to lack of funding for maintenance of the village, its population stopped growing after 1950, when its inhabitants began to leave and settled either in Sanmaur or in other nearby villages. In the 1970s, the village revitalized. A new village was built closer to its namesake mountain. In 1971, the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

bought the lands of the Hudson's Bay Company and these were subsequently added to the reserve. In May 2010, many residents of Wemotaci were evacuated as a

forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

threatened their homes.Quebec forest fire force 1,300 from homes -
/ref>

Demographics

Historic populations:Statistics Canada:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

census * Population in 2016: 1213 * Population in 2001: 1042 * Population in 1996: 856 * Population in 1991: 708 Mother tongue: * English: 0% * French: 3.4% * Atikamekw: 96.2% * Other: 0.4%

Education

There are two schools on the reserve: * École Seskitin, Pre-Kindergarten to Secondary grade 1 * École Waratinak Nikanik, grades Secondary 1 to Secondary 5

References

External links

Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw
{{authority control Atikamekw Communities in Mauricie Indian reserves in Quebec Hudson's Bay Company trading posts La Tuque, Quebec