Missinaibi

The Missinaibi River flows from Missinaibi Lake through the northern forests toward the Moose River and James Bay. Its name means “pictured waters” in Cree, a reference associated with the rock paintings found along its course. At Fairy Point on the lake, more than a hundred Indigenous pictographs cover the face of a cliff.

For centuries the river formed part of a route between Lake Superior and James Bay. During the fur trade, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company established rival posts along it. At Brunswick Lake, an Indigenous fishing camp supplied the traders, whose journeys depended on older routes through this country. The Hudson’s Bay Company’s Brunswick Lake post opened in 1789, with its rival arriving shortly afterwards.