Mingan Islands

Along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Mingan Islands form a chain of limestone islands and reefs opposite Anticosti. Wind and water have carved their rock into striking pillars, while the surrounding waters provided fish and sea mammals to the Innu and to later visitors. Basque crews came for cod and whales; in 1679 Louis Jolliet and Jacques de Lalande received the islands as a seigneury, intending to fish and trade along this coast.