Mistassini

Mistassini stands near the southeastern end of the great lake of the same name, in a homeland long inhabited by Cree families. The lake's shores served as gathering places, while its waters supplied fish and offered routes into the surrounding country. Its name, meaning “big rock,” recalls the great stones of the region. The lake drains through the Rupert River, which carries its waters westward to James Bay.

French traders established a post on Lake Mistassini in the later seventeenth century. Its site moved more than once, and in 1821 the Hudson's Bay Company established a post at the place that became Mistissini. Canoe brigades connected the lake with the trading post at the mouth of the Rupert River, far to the west on James Bay.