Mingan
Mingan
First Nations reserve in Quebec, Canada
Mingan, also known as Ekuanitshit in Innu-aimun, is an Innu First Nations reserve, at the mouth of the Mingan River, on Mingan Bay, on the Nort shore of the Gulf of Saint 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, Canada.[3]
Mingan
Ekuanitshit | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates: 50°18′N 64°02′W | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Quebec |
| Region | Côte-Nord |
| Regional county | none |
| Formed | 1963 |
| Government | |
| • Chief | Jean-Charles Piétacho |
| • Federal riding | Manicouagan |
| • Prov. riding | Duplessis |
| Area | |
| • Total | 19.15 km2 (7.39 sq mi) |
| • Land | 17.24 km2 (6.66 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[2] | |
| • Total | 552 |
| • Density | 32/km2 (80/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Postal Code | G0G 1V0 |
| Area code(s) | 418 and 581 |
The reserve is accessible via Quebec Route 138, 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) east of the village of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan and 36 kilometers (22 mi) west of downtown Havre-Saint-Pierre. 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.[3]
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".[4]
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Historically, the region was the homeland of the Innu 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 and then the Hudson's Bay Company (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.[5]
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.[5]
On April 30, 1963, the Government of Québec transferred 7 square miles (18 km2) 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.[5][6]
St. George's Church in Mingan, catholic Innu Mission, is entirely decorated with works created by Innu and Montagnais artists from Ekuanitshit. Built in the years 1917-1918 by John Maloney, the "Jack Monoloy" of Gilles Vigneault's song, The Birches of the Mingan River.[7]' [8]
- St Georges de Mingan church 1976, Innu and Montagnais art works
- Large crucifix above the high altar
- Lectern and liturgical book
- Holy water font or perhaps baptismal font
- Innu patterned curtains, hunting, game, tents
- Chemin de croix, stations VI - VII - VIII - IX
- High altar, tabernacle, lamps and painted cloth
As of 2022, the band counted 690 members, of which 635 persons are living in the community.[9] Private dwellings occupied by usual residents amount to 153 out of a total of 164. Mother tongues spoken on the reserve are:[2]
- English as first language: 0%
- French as first language: 5.5%
- English and French as first language: 0%
- Other as first language: 93.6%
Population trend:[10]
- Population in 2021: 552 (2016 to 2021 population change: 0%)
- Population in 2011: 552
- Population in 2006: 407
- Population in 2001: 391
- Population in 1996: 431
- Population in 1991: 365
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.
- Statistics Canada 2021 Census - Mingan community profile
- "Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada". Government of Canada. 2023-11-29. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
modernize Government of Canada structures to enable Indigenous peoples to build capacity and support their vision of self-determination
- Harold Bherer; Sylvie Gagnon; Jacinte Roberge (1990), Wampum and letters patent: exploratory study of native entrepreneurship, IRPP, pp. 109–111, ISBN 978-0-88645-116-5
- Natural Resources Canada - Legal Surveys Division, Historical Review - Mingan land title history Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
- "Church of St. George Mingan". catholic.org. 2023-12-08. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
Jurisdiction: Diocese of Baie-Comeau 15, rue Mistamehkanau, Mingan
- "Église Saint Georges de Mingan - Mission innue" (in French). Conseil des Innu de Ekuanitshit. 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
And then wood, wood everywhere, that of the birch trunks that support the altar, that of pine for the totem pole in which is carved a very beautiful face of Christ
- "Indigenous communities in Quebec". 15 October 2021.