Mingan

Mingan lies at the mouth of its river on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, facing an archipelago of islands. Innu families of Ekuanitshit came here from their inland hunting grounds in summer to fish for salmon, hunt whales and meet one another. The islands were also used for seal hunting. With the arrival of Europeans, the summer gatherings became occasions for the exchange of furs.

The Mingan seigneury was granted in 1661, and Louis Jolliet built a trading post on an island in the harbour in 1679. In later years the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company operated posts at Mingan. The Innu continued to visit the coast seasonally, bringing pelts from the interior to trade before returning to their hunting grounds.