Métabetchouane

Where the Métabetchouane River enters Lac Saint-Jean, a point of land shelters a small harbour from the lake's winds and waves. Long before a trading post stood here, Indigenous travellers met at this junction of routes into the interior. The river's name evokes the seasonal life of hunters who spent winter in the forest and returned to the waterways in summer.

In 1671 the Jesuit Charles Albanel visited the place during a gathering of peoples from across the region. Five years later a trading post and the mission of Saint-Charles were established at the river mouth. Situated on a familiar meeting ground, the post drew the fur trade into the lake country, while missionaries travelled among the communities that came there. The site remained an important point of contact between the inhabitants of the interior and the French establishments downstream.