Fjord of the Saguenay

The Saguenay Fjord cuts through steep, wooded cliffs before joining the St. Lawrence at Tadoussac. Fresh water flows above a deep layer of salty water entering from the estuary, and belugas travel into the fjord with the tides. For the Innu and their neighbours, the river and its portages formed a route into the forests of the interior.

Tadoussac was a longstanding Indigenous meeting and trading place when Pierre de Chauvin built a French post there in 1600. Three years later Samuel de Champlain and François Gravé Du Pont attended a gathering led by the Innu chief Anadabijou, where the French and Indigenous allies formed an enduring alliance. Furs reached Tadoussac through networks extending along the Saguenay and far beyond it.