Cikakw Sipi

Cikakw Sipi, the “skunk river” of the Atikamekw, winds through the forest country west of the Saint-Maurice. Known also as the Vermillon, it runs for some 160 kilometres, broken by waterfalls and rapids before joining the larger river. Its valley lies within Nitaskinan, the Atikamekw homeland, where families travelled between fishing waters and hunting grounds. The Abenaki knew the same river by other names, including Azobakhigan, “where one paddles quickly”.