History

Aboriginal communities first appeared in North America nearly 15,000 years ago. Each part of this immense region had its own distinct features, which meant that each society had a language, lifestyle, and culture all its own.

• Essipit
• You’ll find so much to discover!

 

Essipit

When settlement of the area first began, the community owed its survival—and lifestyle—to the use of natural resources. Essipit, established where traditional shipping routes intersected, took advantage of its enviable location to do business with travelers. Native peoples on the St. Lawrence River’s north shore traded with Vikings, Basque whalers, and even Jacques Cartier.

The advent of the logging industry in the 19th century completely transformed life in the area, opening up navigable routes and making subsistence activities possible in outlying locales. It was at this time that the federal government created reserves, including Essipit, founded in 1892. Reserve residents developed new economies based on trade and crafts.

Today, this dynamic community is fusing its indepth knowledge of the world about it with a wholly new economic vision to ensure its present and its future.

Québec has three major linguistic families that include the 11 aboriginal nations. The Essipit community belongs to the Innu nation, which is part of the Algonquian family.

 

You’ll find so much to discover!

Did this short list make you curious to learn more? The following sites will be helpful.

The Aboriginal People of Québec (French only)
A visit to the aboriginal people of Québec is a singular opportunity to learn about communities of unimagined richness, where residents are balancing the lifestyles of their ancestors with the challenges of life in 21st century North America.

The Natives in Québec Map
Prepared by Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune, this interactive map (with a scale of 1:3,000,000) displays the location of Québec’s aboriginal communities.

Amerindian Research in Québec (French only)
This publisher of works about aboriginal populations of Québec and the Americas issues a magazine and monographs.

First Nations SchoolNet
The Canadian government’s education site.

First Nation Profiles
This user-friendly site provides quick and easy access to First Nation profiles and aggregates information from various databases of Ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien (MAINC).