Manawan (named Manouane until 1991), officially named ''communauté Atikamekw de Manawan'' ( French for "Atikamekw Community of Manawan"), 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 Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

on the south-western shores of Lake Métabeskéga in the

Lanaudière Lanaudière (, ) is one of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of Montreal. It has a total population ( 2016 Census) of 494,796 inhabitants, an increase of 4.9% over the 2011 census. Geogr ...

region of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It belongs to the Atikamekw of Manawan

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

of the

Atikamekw The Atikamekw are the Indigenous inhabitants of the subnational country or territory they call ('Our Land'), in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley of Quebec (about north of Montreal), Canada. Their current population is around 8,000. One o ...

Nation.Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - Aboriginal Community profile
Manawan First Nation
The 5-kilometre (3 mile) by 2-kilometre (-mile) reserve is an enclave within the Baie-Atibenne

unorganized territory Unorganized territory may refer to: * An unincorporated area in any number of countries * One of the current or former territories of the United States that has not had a government "organized" with an "organic act" by the U.S. Congress * Unorganize ...

, approximately north of

Saint-Michel-des-Saints Saint-Michel-des-Saints is a municipality in the Matawinie Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. Agriculture, forestry, recreation, and tourism have been the main activities found within this region. History In 1863, Thomas-Léandre B ...

. It is accessible by gravel road. The reserve takes its name from the Manouane River that has its source nearby. 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 Manawan, and this form was adopted on January 8, 1991. It means "place where they gather eggs".

Toponymy

"Manawan" means "place where we gather eggs" in

. The real name of the location of the village of Manawan is ''Metapeckeka'', which means "where swamps emerge" or "savannah that emerges from a bay".

Geography

The Indian Reserve of Manawan is an enclave within the Baie-Atibenne

. It is located at northeast of

Mont-Laurier Mont-Laurier () is a town and incorporated municipality in northwest Quebec, Canada, located on the banks of the Lièvre River (''Rivière du Lièvre''), a tributary of the Ottawa River. Known as the "Capital of the Haute-Laurentides", the motto ...

and it covers an area of . It is linked by a gravel road to Saint-Michel-des-Saints to the south which is the closest service centre. The main city the closest to the village is

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

History

At least since 1850 and probably earlier, the shores of Lake Métabeskéga were a gathering place for Atikamekw families from

Wemotaci Wemotaci (designated as Weymontachie 23 until 1997) is a First Nations reserve on the north shore of the Saint-Maurice River at the mouth of the Manouane River in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. Together with the Obedjiwan and the Coucou ...

. This location, near their winter hunting grounds, was known in the 19th century as Metapeckeka, meaning "swamp coming from a bay" (from the fact that the lake is often dotted with floating plant debris that winds blew of the banks). Around 1870, logging companies moved into the area, prompting several families to permanently settle on the site. A year later, 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 ...

opened its post. But damming of Kempt, Manawan, and Châteauvert Lakes in the early 1900s inundated the old village. A new village formed downstream at the current site. Establishing a reserve for themselves proved difficult for the Atikamekw. The repeated requests of Chief

Louis Néwashish Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

for this portion of their territory were rebuffed by the Canadian Government, saying that the Maniwaki reserve, created in 1850, was reserved for them. The Atikamekw refused to go and live there. The federal government still declined to establish a reserve, arguing that Wemotaci was also for them. After years of correspondence followed by numerous trips in birch-bark canoe to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and lengthy negotiations for federal services, the government agreed. On August 29, 1906, the Manouane Reserve was officially founded with of land and having some 50 inhabitants.Natural Resources Canada - Legal Surveys Division, Historical Review
Manawan
The Hudson's Bay Company general store closed circa 1941. The village experienced further growth in the 1950s when more families settled down as a result of growing forest exploitation and the construction of large dams. In 1973, Manawan was connected by road to Saint-Michel-des-Saints.

Land History

* 1861-01-31: Act of 1861, aside land not exceeding 93,080 hectares (230,000 acres) for the use of Indians. * 1906-05-25: Surveying land for reserve Manowan. Undivided land. Area: 771.32 hectares (1,906 acres). * 1906-08-29: Order in Council 532, transfer of the management and administration of 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 ...

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

. Undivided land. Area: 771.32 hectares (1,906 acres). Current Situation * Lands undivided, land acquired under the 1861 Act Transferring the management and administration of the

by Order in Council 532 (1906-1908. - 29). Area: 771.32 hectares (1,906 acres)

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 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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 ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

census * Population in 2021: 2000 * Population in 2016: 2060 * Population in 2011: 2073 * Population in 2001: 1646 * Population in 1996: 1416 * Population in 1991: 1224 Mother tongue: * English: 0.2% * French: 2.4% *

: 97.1% * Other: 0.2%

Education

L'agora de l'école secondaire Otapi de Manawan

There are 2 schools on the reserve: * ''École Simon P. Ottawa'' (Simon P. Ottawa School), pre-kindergarten to Elementary grade 6 * ''École secondaire Otapi'' (Otapi High School), grades Secondary 1 to Secondary 5

References

External links

100 year anniversary of the Manawan reserve

Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw
{{authority control Atikamekw Communities in Lanaudière Indian reserves in Quebec Hudson's Bay Company trading posts 1870 establishments in Canada