'Wemindji' is a small
Cree community on Paint Hills Bay off
James Bay at the mouth of the Maquatua River in
Quebec,
Canada. The community has a population of 1238 people (2001 Canada census).
Wemindji (Cree for "red ochre mountain") gets its name from the red pigment found in the hills surrounding it. It has also been known as "Nouveau-Comptoir".
Wemindji is a fairly new community comprising Cree families originally living at the trading post on an island in the Vieux-Comptoir River, known as "Vieux-Comptoir" or its English equivalent "Old Factory". This post was founded in the seventeenth century and was alternately under British or French control. In 1959 the community was relocated about 45 km north to its present location.
Wemindji is accessible by air (
Wemindji Airport) and, since 1995, by car over a gravel road linking it to the
Route de la Baie James.
See also
★
Hudson's Bay Company
★
Grand Council of the Crees
External links
★
Official site of Cree Nation of Wemindji