The Pessamit Innu Band, which the official name is ''bande des Innus de Pessamit'', is an Indian band of the

Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

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, ...

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 ...

. Its members primarily live on the

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

Pessamit Pessamit (formerly Betsiamites, or Bersimis), is a First Nations reserve and Innu community in the Canadian province of Quebec, located about southwest from Baie-Comeau along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Betsi ...

in the

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (Region 09) (, ; ) is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region of Quebec, on the Quebec-Labrador peninsula, Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, Canada. The region runs along the St. Lawrence River and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ...

, the north shore of

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

, which is also the seat of the band. In 2017 it has a registered population of 3,953 members. It is governened by a band council called Conseil des Innus de Pessamit and it is affiliated with the Mamuitun Tribal Council. The band was previously known as Bersimis and Betsiamites.

Geography

The Pessamit Innu Band owns only one

, previously known as "Betsiamites", where lives the majority of its members, located in the

, the north shore of

, in

at approximately 40 km southeast of

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...

. The reserve covers an area of 25,242 hectares. Baie-Comeau is the closest service centre and the closest big city is

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

History

The ancestors of the

Innu people The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer t ...

are present on the north shore of

since at least 5500 B.C. In 1534

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...

met a nation that he called "Papinachois" in the region of

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM (Regional County Municipality), on the north shore of the maritime section of the estuary of St. Lawrence river, in Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. Geography Tadoussac is ...

. It was in fact the ancestors of the Innus who were later called "Montagnais" by the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

settlers. From 1632 to 1782 many

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

evangelized the Innus. In fact in 1849 the Innus of Pessamit built a chapel on the site of the actual village of

. In 1851 the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

father Arnaud sent a request to the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

to reserve a territory of 70,000 acres west of the Rivière aux Outardes for the

Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. This request was granted the following year. The

of Pessamit was created in 1862. The band was then known as "Bersimis". In 1901 the Sœurs du Bon-Conseil coming from

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

started to give education on the reserve. The Conseil des Innus de Pessamit took the responsibility for the education in 1979. In 1981 the band changed its name for "Betsiamites". In 2001 it changed its name to its actual name of "Pessamit".

Demographics

The members of the First Nation of Pessamit are

. In March 2017 the

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

had a total registered population of 3,953 members, 1,022 of which lived off reserve. According to

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

's 2011 Census the median age of the population is 29.3 years old. Registered population of band members, as of May 2024: * Total members: 4,185 * On Betsiamites Reserve: * On other reserves: * Off reserve:

Religion

The vast majority of the Innus of Pessamit are

. The patroness saint of the church of Pessamit is Our Lady of

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Town ...

. The elders of Pessamit are devoted to her. Traditionally the Innus of Pessamit departed for their hunting territories on 15 August, the Feast of Our Lady of Assumption.

Languages

The language of the

Innu-aimun Innu-aimun or Montagnais is an Algonquian language spoken by over 10,000 Innu in Labrador and Quebec in Eastern Canada. It is a member of the Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi dialect continuum and is spoken in various dialects depending on the com ...

, an

Algonquian language Algonquian language may refer to: * Algonquian languages, language sub-family indigenous to North America * Algonquin language, an Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language {{disambiguation ...

. According to

's 2011 Census, on a total population of 2,420 people, 2,350 know an Aboriginal language, which represent 97% of the band population. 95.5% of the population has an Aboriginal language still spoken and understood as a

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

and 96.7% speak an Aboriginal language at home. The elders of 65 years old and more still speak the ancestral language while, in the age group of 40 to 65 years old, the vocabulary about traditional activities and the forest is being lost. Among the people of less than 40 years old the knowledge of the language is decreasing at every generation and many

words are used even in conversations in Innu-aimun. Regarding

official languages An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

18% know both French and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

while 76% know only French and 6% do not know any.

Government

The Pessamit Innu Band is governed by a

band council In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

, the ''Conseil des Innus de Pessamit'', elected according to a custom electoral system based on Section 11 of the

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...

. For 2016-2010 tenure this council is composed of the chief Simon René and six councillors. The band is affiliated with the Mamuintun Tribal Council.

References

External links

*
First Nation Detail
by

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

{{coord missing, Quebec Côte-Nord Innu communities in Quebec First Nations governments in Quebec