Mingan, Quebec

Mingan, also known as Ekuanitshit in Innu-aimun, is an Innu First Nations reserve, at the mouth of the Mingan River, on Mingan Bay, on the North shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It belongs to the Innu band of Ekuanitshit, geographically it is within Cote-Nord region, Minganie Regional County Municipality (administratively not part of it), Quebec, Canada.

Geography

The reserve is accessible via Quebec Route 138, east of the village of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan and west of downtown Havre-Saint-Pierre. It is serviced by a health centre, community radio station, library, cultural centre, community store, municipal water and sewer system, fire station, and an aboriginal police force.

The name Mingan, already appearing as ''mican'' on a map of 1631, is generally considered to originate from the Innu word ''maikan'', meaning "timber wolf". But there is no certainty over this interpretation. It has also been proposed that it may have come from the Basque word ''mingain'' meaning "language", or the Breton term ''menguen'' that translates as "white stone".

History

Historically, the region was the homeland of the Innu people, who came there from their inland hunting grounds to spend the summer on the coast. Mingan was a summer gathering site where the Innu would fish for salmon, hunt for whale, have family meetings, and trade with each other. In 1661 the Mingan Seignory was granted and Europeans began to settle in the area, marking the beginnings of the fur trade, which continued until the early 20th century. The North West Company and then the Hudson's Bay Company (from 1807 to 1873) maintained trading posts there under the name Mingan, which were frequently visited by Innu to trade furs, although they continued to stay there during the summers only.

The Innu's nomadic way of life was disrupted during World War II, as mining and forestry companies moved into the area. After the war, mandatory education, fluctuating fur prices, and government housing programs led the Innu to settle permanently there.

On April 30, 1963, the Government of Québec transferred of land in the seignory of Mingan to the Government of Canada to establish a reserve for the Mingan region Innu. The reserve however had no access to the Mingan River, which the Innu depended on for subsistence. After many years of struggle, the river banks were added to the reserve in 1983. In 1996, it was further expanded.Natural Resources Canada - Legal Surveys Division, Historical Review
Mingan land title history

Watherway

Ports of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the Côte-Nord Shore: Blanc-Sablon, Harrington Harbor, Natashquan, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Mingan, Port-Menier (Anticosti Island), Cap-aux-Meules ( Îles-de-la-Madeleine).

Demographics

As of 2022, the band counted 690 members, of which 635 persons are living in the community.

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents amount to 160 out of a total of 165. Mother tongues spoken on the reserve are (2021):
* English as first language: 0%
* French as first language: 1.8%
* Innu (Montagnais) as first language: 82.7%
* French and other as first language: 16.4%

Culture

St. George's Church, catholic Innu Mission, was built in the years 1917-1918 by John Maloney, and is entirely decorated with works created by Innu and Montagnais artists from Ekuanitshit.

File:013 049 Ekuanitshit.jpg, Large crucifix above the high altar
File:013 034 Ekuanitshit.jpg, Holy water font or perhaps baptismal font
File:013 045 Ekuanitshit.jpg, Innu patterned curtains, hunting, game, tents
File:013 040 Ekuanitshit.jpg, Stations of the cross, stations VI - VII - VIII - IX
File:013 048 Ekuanitshit.jpg, High altar, tabernacle, lamps and painted cloth

Education

There is only one school on the reserve, ''École Teueikan'', that provides pre-Kindergarten to Secondary grade 4, and had an enrollment of 106 students in 2008–2009.

See also

* Innus of Ekuanitshit

References

External links

*
Mamit Innuat tribal council
- Ekuanitshit (Mingan)
Lower North Shore Community
Web Site

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Innu communities in Quebec
Communities in Côte-Nord
Hudson's Bay Company trading posts
1661 establishments in the French colonial empire