Wolinak

Wôlinak, whose Abenaki name means “at the bay”, lies beside the Bécancour River near its meeting with the Saint Lawrence. The river and its islands became home to an Abenaki community whose families came from lands farther south as well as from the surrounding country. Their settlement formed part of a wider network of Abenaki villages and waterways, including the community on the Saint-François River.

In 1704 Abenaki families from the Kennebec country came to Bécancour at the invitation of the French authorities, and in 1708 the local seigneur granted them land. The village moved between sites along the river before settling at Wôlinak around 1735. A visitor in 1752 found a chapel, a priest's house and nineteen wooden dwellings. Tensions over land persisted: in 1757 French settlers set fire to the community's church, and during the War of 1812 further land was seized while many Abenaki were away fighting.