The Lac au Goéland (English: Gull Lake) is a freshwater body of water crossed by the
Waswanipi River and is located within
Eeyou Istchee James Bay (municipality), within the administrative region of
Nord-du-Québec
Nord-du-Québec (; ) is the largest, but the least populous, of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada.
Spread over nearly 14 degrees of latitude, north of the 49th parallel, the region covers on the Labrador Peninsula, making ...
, in the
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
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, ...
, in
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 ...
.
The surface of "Lac au Goéland" extends into the cantons of Meulande, Dussieux, Bourbaux and Nignal.
Forestry is the main economic activity of the sector. Recreational tourism activities come second.
The hydrographic slope of "Lac au Goéland" is accessible via the James Bay road from the southwest (
Matagami), then branches northwards by cutting the
Canet River, located at Northwest of Goéland Lake. Forest roads serve the southern part of the lake.
The surface of Goéland Lake is usually frozen from early November to mid-May, however, safe ice movement is generally from mid-November to mid-April.
Geography
This lake has a length of , a maximum width of and an altitude of . "Goéland Lake" is part of a large watershed with lakes
Maicasagi (Northeast),
Waswanipi (Southeast) and
Olga (West).
Goéland Lake has several peninsulas and 31 islands. The main bays are Ramsay Bay in the southwest and Lawrence Bay in the west. The Waswanipi River (tributary of
Matagami Lake) flows northwest to Goéland Lake. The Max Passage is the length of and connects the
Lake Maicasagi, located to the Northeast. This last lake is in turn fed by the
Chensagi River (coming from the North).
The mouth of "Lac au Goéland" is located at the bottom of a bay Northwest of the lake at:
* East of the mouth of
Olga Lake (at the mouth of the
Waswanipi River);
* Southwest of the mouth of
Maicasagi Lake;
* Northeast of the village center of
Matagami;
* East of the mouth of
Matagami Lake.
The main hydrographic slopes near Lake Goéland are:
* North side:
Chensagi River,
Lake Maicasagi;
* East side:
Waswanipi River,
Waswanipi Lake;
* South side:
Iserhoff River,
Iserhoff North River, Imbault Creek;
* West side:
Matagami Lake,
Olga Lake (Waswanipi River),
Opaoca River.
Toponymy
This body of water was designated "Kiashk Lake" or "Kiask Lake" by the Cree Nation's Amerindians. Father Vaillancourt used the spelling Ch¯ - y¯asK, meaning "gull" because the islands served as refuges to several colonies of this bird swimmer and omnivore.
In his Journal (1819), explorer James Clouston uses the name Cheaskquachiston Lake. Other explorers of the day will also use the Cheashquacheston Lake form. In his 1895-1896 exploration report, Robert Bell translates this name by Gull Lake. Henry O'Sullivan uses the same name in 1901.
The 1946 map of the province of Quebec indicates "L. to the Gull. More recently, the designation "Heron Lake" has been raised. The term "Gull" is used in a good hundred other toponyms in Quebec, especially lakes.
The toponym "Lac au Goéland" was formalized on December 5, 1968, by the
Commission de toponymie du Québec
The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...
, when it was created.
Commission de toponymie du Québec - Place names bank - Toponym: "Lac au Goéland"
/ref>
See also
*Nottaway River
The Nottaway River is a river in Quebec, Canada. The river drains Lake Matagami and travels north-west before emptying into Rupert Bay at the south end of James Bay. Its drainage basin is and has a mean discharge of 1190 m3/s (1556 yd3/s). Its ...
, a watercourse
* Matagami Lake, a body of water
* Waswanipi River, a watercourse
* Chensagi River, a watercourse
* Maicasagi Lake, a body of water
* Maicasagi River, a watercourse
* Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality), a municipality
*List of lakes of Canada
This is a partial list of lakes of Canada. Canada has an extremely large number of lakes, with the number of lakes larger than three square kilometres being estimated at close to 31,752 by the Atlas of Canada. Of these, 561 lakes have a surface ar ...
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goéland Lake
Eeyou Istchee James Bay
Lakes of Nord-du-Québec
Nottaway River drainage basin