Péribonka

The Péribonka rises near the Otish Mountains and flows south through a vast forested basin to Pekuakami, or Lac Saint-Jean. Its Ilnu name has been interpreted as “the river that digs into the sand”. Lakes and tributaries make it an important route through the interior; the Grande Loutre, for example, leads travellers towards Lake Témiscamie and the northern watershed.

In 1679 the Jesuit François de Crespieul recorded the river's name as Perib8ka near its mouth. Later maps by Guillaume Delisle and Father Laure preserved other spellings. Traders and missionaries followed the river into the interior to meet Indigenous hunters, using a route that also offered access towards Lake Mistassini and Hudson Bay. Long before these journeys were recorded in French, Ilnu families had travelled through the river country to hunt and fish.