Aguanish is a municipality located on the banks of the Aguanish River, on the north shore of Jacques Cartier Strait, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in Minganie Regional County Municipality, Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. In addition to Aguanish itself, the municipality also includes the hamlet of L'Île-Michon, 3.5 km to the East.

Community

Aguanish has barely 300 inhabitants, the Aguanishoises and Aguanishois live in one of the smallest municipalities in Quebec.

L'Île Michon

The hamlet of L'Île Michon is located opposite the island of the same name, 700 m from the coast and 3.5 km downstream from Aguanish, on the coast of the Jacques Cartier Strait, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. According to certains sources, Île-Michon was founded by Jean Michon, a craftsman who landed on the island opposite the village to build fishing boats.

Toponymy

Aguanish is named after the Goynish or Aguanish River (ancien name Aguanus River), that flows through and drains into the Strait of Jacques Cartier, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence right at the village. This word of Innu origin came from aguanus, in turn from akwanich, from the roots akwan (shelter) and ich (small). It has undergone many different spellings, including: Goines (17th century); Guanis, Goinis (1744 map by Bellin); Goynish (1776 map by Carver); Agwanus, Aguanus or Agouanus (maps of the 19th century).

History

The main prehistoric cultures, called "archaic", were based on three sets of groups coming from the southwest, from as far away as the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River, those coming from the great plateaus of the interior and James Bay, and those from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New England. From the 14th to the 17th century, the presence of Europeans in the regions of the North Shore and the Gulf of St. Lawrence began with the periodic visits of the Basques and Breton fishermen. In 1831, the Hudson's Bay Company opened the Nabisipi trading post (also spelled Nabaysepie, Nabaysippi, or Nabaysipieat) at the mouth of the Nabisipi River (just west of the current town site). After a brief closure, it was reopened in 1832, and operated until circa 1860. The first European inhabitants, fishermen from the Magdalen Islands, settled in the area circa 1849. They were joined in 1875 by people from Kégashka (today Kegaska) and from Nabisipi River. Until the advent of World War II (1939-1945) the growth of the population occurred in concert with the development of the pulp and paper industry. The place was incorporated as a municipality in 1957.

Demographics

Population

Language

Economy

Economic activity primarily centers on crab and salmon fishing.

Transportation

By Route 138, according to Google Map, Aguanish is 125 km from Havre-Saint-Pierre and 341 km from Sept-Îles. Until the arrival of The Whale Route (Route 138) in 1996, a regular means of access to the area was the boat service maintained during the navigation season by Clarke Steamship Company, Ltd, sailing from Montreal and Quebec. Also, numerous lakes of the area provide suitable landings for floatplane based at Mingan and Havre-Saint-Pierre. Canoe travel is difficult in the region and require several portages.