Nutashkuan
Nutashkuan (INAC) or Natashquan (CGNDB) (sometimes Natashquan 1) is a First Nations reserve in the Canadian province of Quebec, belonging to the Première Nation des Innus de Nutashkuan band. The reserve is located on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the mouth of the Natashquan River, 336 km (209 mi) east of Sept-Îles and has been accessible by Route 138 since 1996.
Nutashkuan | |
|---|---|
First Nations reserve | |
Nutashkuan Location in the Côte-Nord region | |
| Coordinates: 50°08′N 61°48′W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Quebec |
| Region | Côte-Nord |
| Regional county | none |
| Formed | 1953 |
| Government | |
| • Chief | Réal Tettaut |
| • Federal riding | Manicouagan |
| • Provincial riding | Duplessis |
| Area | |
| • Land | 1.35 km2 (0.52 sq mi) |
| Population (2021) | |
| • Total | 915 |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Within the AST legislated time zone boundary but observes EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| Postal Code | G0G 2E0 |
| Area code(s) | 418 and 581 |
The reserve should not be confused with the adjacent but distinct township of Natashquan just to the north and east.
The community is serviced by a nursing station, community radio station, municipal water and sewer system, fire station, and an aboriginal police force.
The site was mapped in 1684 by Louis Jolliet who called it Noutascoüan. It was subsequently spelled as Nontascouanne (1734), Natasquan (1831), Nataskwan (1844), Natashkwan (1846), Natosquan (1857), Nataskouan (1858), and taking its current form, Natashquan, circa 1895. This name, spelled Nutahkuant or Nutashkuan in the contemporary Innu language, is usually translated as "where the black bear is taken" or "where one hunts for bear."