Macamic Lake () is a freshwater body of the municipalities of Macamic,

Authier-Nord Authier-Nord () is a municipality in northwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It covers and had a population of 288 as of the 2021 Canadian census. The municipality was formed on January 1, 1983, when it p ...

and

Chazel Chazel () is a municipality in northwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It had a population of 254 in the 2021 Canadian census. The municipality was incorporated on February 19, 1938, as the Municipality of ...

in the

Regional County Municipality The term regional county municipality or RCM (, , MRC) is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county regional municipality. Regional county municipalit ...

(MRC) of Abitibi-Ouest, in the administrative region of

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 147,082 people as of the 2021 cens ...

, in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Lake Macamic is surrounded by a mainly agricultural area. The surface of this body of water is generally frozen from mid-November to the end of April; however, the period of safe ice traffic is usually from mid-December to the end of March. The arrival of the Transcontinental Railway to Macamic in 1916 (passing south of Macamic Lake) and

La Sarre, Quebec La Sarre () is a town in northwestern Quebec, Canada, and is the most populous town and seat of the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It is located at the intersection of Quebec Route 111, Routes 111 and Quebec Route 393, 393, on the L ...

in 1917 contributed greatly to the colonization of this area. Pioneers of lots awarded in the area usually arrived by train from the

Mauricie Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making tourism in Mauricie popular. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km2 (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

or the

Capitale-Nationale Capitale-Nationale (; ) is one of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec. It is anchored by the provincial capital, Quebec City, and is largely coextensive with that city's metropolitan area. It has a land area of 18,684.78 km2. It reported ...

region. For example, the pioneers were getting off the train at Macamic, south of Macamic Lake, with their livestock, settlements and provisions. Then, they used boats to cross Macamic Lake and take the La Sarre River to their respective lot in the area of

. These pioneers were generally supplied by the train by their extended family who lived in

Geography

Lake Macamic is supplied with water by: *East side (Bellefeuille Bay): Macamic River, Little Bellefeuille River, Royal-Roussillon Creek; *East side (Perron Bay): a small unnamed river; *South side: Lois River which flows to the village of Macamic. On the north side of the lake, the lakes "De Courval" and "Piton" are surrounded by marsh areas that drain into the La Sarre River. The mouth of Lake Macamic is located at the bottom of a bay on the north side. Its outfall is the La Sarre River which runs 3.3 km to the northwest, to the west, then to the south to flow into the La Sarre Bay, of

Abitibi Lake Lake Abitibi (, ) is a shallow lake in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec, Canada. The lake, which lies within the vast Clay Belt, is separated in two distinct portions by a short narrows, making it actually two lakes. Its total area is , a ...

Toponymy

The geographer Hormisdas Magnan attests that the name "Macamic" is of Algonquin origin meaning "amazing ". Other historians attribute to it rather the meaning of "lame beaver" to this name; the component "mak" means "disabled" and "amik" is associated with "beaver". The graph "Makamik" has long been in use. The toponym "Macamic Lake" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Bank of Place Names of the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...

.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym: "Lac Macamic".
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Geography

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also