Nepisiguit

Nepisiguit lies where a river of the same name reaches the sheltered waters of Chaleur Bay. The Mi'kmaq gathered here in summer, and the river carried them inland through a country of falls and forests. Its name has been understood as a reference to rough or foaming water. Fish from the river and bay sustained the community, while the harbour became a place of encounter with French missionaries and traders.

Nicolas Denys established a trading post at Nepisiguit in the seventeenth century. After fire destroyed his home and business at Saint-Pierre in the winter of 1668–69, he moved his family to the fortified post on the bay. There he wrote his account of the coasts and peoples of Acadia, drawing on decades spent in the region. He died in 1688, probably at Nepisiguit.