Mingan, also known as Ekuanitshit 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 com ...

, is an

Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

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 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 ...

Geography

The reserve is accessible via

Quebec Route 138 Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the St. Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The western terminus is in E ...

, east of the village of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan and west of downtown

Havre-Saint-Pierre Havre-Saint-Pierre () is a municipality located on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in Côte-Nord region, Minganie RCM, Quebec, Canada. History In 1857, a group of Acadian families arrived, in 1872, the Parish of Saint-Pierre-d ...

. 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

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 The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

and then the

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 ...

(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. Autochtones tente Mingan 1920

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 Côte-Nord (Region 09) (, ; ) is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region of Quebec, on the Quebec-Labrador peninsula, Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, Canada. The region runs along the St. Lawrence River and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ...

Shore: Blanc-Sablon, Harrington Harbor, Natashquan,

, Mingan, Port-Menier (

Anticosti Island Anticosti () is an island located between the Jacques Cartier and Honguedo Straits, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in L'Île-d'Anticosti (Municipality), Minganie MRC, Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada. UNESCO's World Heritage On September 19, 2023, ...

Cap-aux-Meules Cap-aux-Meules (, "Grindstone") is a List of former municipalities in Quebec, former village, now a sector of the municipality of Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec. It is located on Cap aux Meules Island (Grindstone Island), part of the Magdal ...

( 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 A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

above the high

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

File:013 034 Ekuanitshit.jpg,

Holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...

font or perhaps

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

File:013 045 Ekuanitshit.jpg, Innu patterned curtains,

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, game, tents File:013 040 Ekuanitshit.jpg,

Stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

, 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.

References

External links

*
Mamit Innuat tribal council
- Ekuanitshit (Mingan)
Lower North Shore Community
Web Site {{authority control Innu communities in Quebec Communities in Côte-Nord Hudson's Bay Company trading posts 1661 establishments in the French colonial empire