The Rivers of Lac-Saint-Jean, as Seen by the Pekuakamiulnuatsh

By Stacy Bossum

For the Pekuakamiulnuatsh (the Ilnuatsh of the Mashteuiatsh community), the rivers of Lac-Saint-Jean are more than just waterways; they are ancestral routes. Our history and way of life revolve around the Pekuakami (Lac-Saint-Jean) and its tributaries.

Our people, who have inhabited the vast territory extending beyond the Pekuakami watersheds for millennia, have always used the rivers as transportation routes. They are our highways! In the past, they were the primary means we had to travel to our hunting grounds in the fall and return to the lake when spring arrived.

Families would leave the community in the fall in their canoes to travel upriver along the major rivers surrounding the lake (Mistassini, Mistassibi, Péribonka, Ashuapmushuan, Métabetchouane, etc.). As they traveled upriver, the families would split up as they reached their family hunting grounds.

These expeditions were long and arduous. I remember the stories my grandfather told me about how it took them two months to reach the family hunting grounds at the headwaters of the Mistassini River. For each stretch of the river, the men would make an initial trip to transport most of the luggage and set up camp. Then they would return to fetch the family and travel back up the same stretch of the river the next day. The journey was long, but it was undertaken calmly, taking care to quietly gather provisions for the long winter months.

There were many portages along these turbulent waterways. In fact, several major rapids still bear traces of these old portages today. The next time you paddle on the rivers around the lake, keep your eyes peeled—you might spot remnants of these trails, which are still visible.

Even today, Ilnuatsh families still occupy and travel down certain sections of the rivers, with grandparents continuing the oral tradition by telling the younger generation about their adventures and stories from the territory. Every year, a river trip is organized by the community to give First Nations members the opportunity to experience this tradition and commemorate the culture and heritage that has been passed down to us.

What has changed is how quickly we can reach our hunting grounds. Nowadays, we can make the trip in a single day. The distance is the same, but the roads that have been built over the decades—and especially modern transportation—have made it much easier to access these remote areas.

If you’d like to learn more about the history and culture of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh, I invite you to take advantage of your visit to Lac-Saint-Jean to visit the Musée amérindien de Mashteuiatsh, where you’ll discover the richness of our thousand-year-old history.