Winneway – Wikipedia

Winneway Is an Indian Long Point Nation Indian establishment, an Algonquine nation, located in Abitibi-Témiscamingue in Quebec (Canada).

The Quebec Toponymy Commission writes about it: “It is first on the north bank of Lac des Fifteen, in the canton of Villars, in Témiscamingue, that the Algonquins attending the whole sector are invited to participate in the activities of worship in a mission established by the Oblates in 1884. This then bears the name of Longue-Pointe. She is around the trading post of the Hudson Bay Company, identified himself by the long-point name which will also remain attached to the name of the band. Famous missionaries, the Nedélec and Évain Fathers, will visit it during their apostolate. In 1937-1938, we built on the Winneway river, not far from the place where it flows into Lake Simard, a hydroelectric dam to power the new mining city of Belleterre. No doubt some Algonquins are established there then. In 1950, we connected the mining village of Belleterre to Laforce then to Winneway and it was at this moment, at the instigation of Father Édouard Beaudet, that the mission was moved there and took the name of Winneway. For some, this toponym means bright waters, fast waters. Others draw the origin of Winnewash and translate it by dirty bay or bay with troubled waters ” ^{[ 2 ]} .

In the early 1920s, people who lived in Long Point Abandon their summer site and move further to the west because the construction of a dam in the Upper Outaouais basin floods a large part of their territory. Around 1950, the construction of a hydroelectric dam supplying the new mine in Belleterre encouraged some Algonquins to come and settle permanently in the Indian Winneway establishment. In 1950, the construction of a path connecting the Villages de Belleterre to Laforce, then to Winneway promoted the movements and the emergence of a better organized community.

The Algonquins or Anishnabes are at the start of the nomads which slowly sedentize themselves in the middle of the XX ^{It is} century. Indeed, around the early 1950s, they settled on a territory of just 0.5 km², thus creating the agglomeration of Winneway, landlocked in the territory of Laforce, in order to settle there permanently. A few years later, the community was recognized by the federal government as an “Indian establishment”. The few families who decide to settle closer to their ancestral hunting territories, apart from the limits of the established village, are considered to be squatters and have no grant or collective services.

The lifestyle of the Algonquins in Témiscamingue is adjusted according to the rhythms of the seasons and the products they are also looking for the group travels according to their activities and according to the season cycles. In summer, the different bands meet in specific places including the head of Lake Témiscamingue, the Montreal River, Lake Kipawa and the Fifteen River in order to fish fish there.

Before the arrival of the winter snow that prevents traffic, they separate and divide into a small group in order to facilitate the displacement from one place to another to chase game. If before the 1830s the anishnabes lived in a traditional way quickly to the contacts of whites, they were attracted to the European products available that are weapons, domestic products and a certain religious practice of European culture. On the other hand, their beliefs, their daily lifestyle remain the same because they were transmitted by their ancestors. They are happy with the strict necessary and they do not ask for more. Their houses are made from birch bark and they are easy to move where it has food. They often go to bed under the stars and even in case of rain they take birch bark. Anishnabes have shamans and jugglers who act as an intermediary between the Grand Manitou and humans. The shaman is a sorcerer and a healer while the juggler, who meditates to get in touch with the spirits, is consulted by the anishnabes for various spiritual and personal questions. Anishnabes believe that all living beings, human as animals have a soul. This belief has repercussions on their daily activities, especially for hunting and fishing. They practice ceremonies for the sole purpose of promoting a good season of fishing and hunting and often to calm the elements of nature or even out of respect for nature.

Their mythical thought is based on the individual who is part of nature in the same way as animals, water and thunder. Religion is part of their daily life and spiritual belief is very important. It gives meaning to their existence and they situate it in the cosmos. In their tribe, the shaman, a kind of high priest, is an individual with supernatural powers, either by a donation from the spirits, or by a dream or during a fast. His multiple powers can cure somatic discomfort as much as mental disorders and even interpret dreams. The Algonquins conceive of death as a trip which must be prepared with care. When a person dies, we deposit all his property where he is buried because he will need it in the world of the beyond.

The integration of the furs trade is done slowly. Anishnabes did not get started overnight in commercial practice. For the majority, the subsistence comes first and then commercial hunting, which means that during a shortage season, there is no commercial hunt. Over the years, hunters have exchanged fur skins to satisfy their need. Some work in the milking position, but as soon as the winter season arrives, they leave to hunt animals on fur on their ancestral territory. They easily integrate into the fur trade and become more and more dependent on European products, such as blankets, cauldrons and rifles. When there is an epidemic or a long period of scarcity, anishnabes become more dependent on the products available at the milking position to ensure their survival and then Europeans increase their power over them.

This position was used to intercept the anishnabes of Témiscamingue and Abitibi who went to Hudson’s bay to sell their fur to the English. Indeed, since Radisson and Groseilliers have been working on behalf of the English, the Hudson Bay Company began to exploit the fur trade in the region.

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Bibliography [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• Marc Riopel , Témiscamingue: its history and its inhabitants , Fides editions, 2002 , 366 p.

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