Attaapiskat

The Attawapiskat River runs from the Canadian Shield across the wetlands of the Hudson Bay Lowlands to James Bay. Near its mouth, limestone islands rise above the water; the river's Cree name refers to the distinctive gaps in the rock. For the Mushkegowuk, the river was a route between inland hunting grounds and the coast, with territory extending eastward to Akimiski Island.

The arrival of European traders at James Bay did not immediately draw all the people of this river into their commerce. Fort Albany became a trading centre to the south in the late seventeenth century, while Cree hunters continued to use the country around Attawapiskat and Akimiski. In 1727 men from the fort sought to trade with hunters on the island, across the water from the river's mouth.