Pakuashipi (Pakua Shipi, or Pakua Shipu 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 ...

and St-Augustin Indian Settlement) 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 ...

community in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

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, ...

, located on the north shore of the

Gulf of Saint Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence is a gulf that fringes the shores of the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, plus the islands Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, possessions of France, in ...

in 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, ...

region. It is on the western shore of the mouth of the Saint-Augustin River, opposite the settlement of Saint-Augustin. It is not an

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

, but an

Indian settlement An Indian settlement is a census subdivision outlined by the Canadian government Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada for census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acqui ...

within the Municipality of Saint-Augustin, occupied by the Innu band of Pakua Shipi. Although they hold no formal

legal title In property law, title is an intangible construct representing a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different part ...

to the land at this time, negotiations are still ongoing to determine their indigenous rights. The community is serviced by a health centre, a community centre, a church, a school, a community store, a youth centre, a community radio station, an inn, municipal water and sewer system, fire station, and an indigenous police force. Pakuashipi is the Innu name of the Saint-Augustin River and means "shallow river", from ''pakua'' ("drained" or "dried up") and ''shipi'' ("river"). The inhabitants of this settlement are identified by other Innu groups as the ''Pakua-shipiunnuat'', and are considered the most traditional, the most conservative Innu band, in terms of both culture and language.

History

The area was originally home to nomadic

and

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

tribes. Most of them, however, were displaced once Europeans began to exploit the area. In July 1949, the

Government of Quebec The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...

offered to the Innu population land with an area of in order to create a reserve. But this was refused by the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

who deemed its population too small to justify such a decision. In the early 1960s, in order to provide essential services, the federal government decided to incorporate the Saint-Augustin group with the band at La Romaine reserve and relocated them there. But during the night, in a storm, the group returned to their ancestral land. On June 4, 1971, the Quebec Ministry of Lands and Forests authorized the Government of Canada to build houses for the

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 ...

people of Saint Augustin on the current site. On July 27, 1987, the Saint Augustin Band changed its name to "Pakua Shipi Montagnais Band".Natural Resources Canada - Legal Surveys Division, Historical Review
Saint-Augustin land title history

Demographics

As of July 2021, the band had a registered population of 401 people. The number of private dwellings occupied by usual residents is 65 out of a total of 90. As of the

2016 Canadian census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

s spoken are as follows: * English as first language: 0.0% * French as first language: 6.4% * English and French as first language: 0% *

: 87.28% * Other responses: 6.4% Population trend (1991 - 2016): * Population in 2016: 237 −24.0 * Population in 2011: 312 +8.0% * Population in 2006: 289 +26.8% * Population in 2001: 228 −5.8% * Population in 1996: 242 +14.7% * Population in 1991: 211

Education

There is only one school on the settlement, ''École Pakuashipish'', that provides pre-Kindergarten to Secondary grade 4, and had an enrolment of 88 students in 2008-2009.

References

External links

Bande des Montagnais de Pakua Shipi
{{authority control Innu communities in Quebec Communities in Côte-Nord Indian settlements in Quebec