The Roggan River is a tributary of the eastern shore of

James Bay James Bay (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island. Numerous waterways of the ...

. This river runs westward in the municipality of

Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality) Eeyou Istchee James Bay (, ) is a local municipality in the (TE) in administrative region of . Located to the east of James Bay, Eeyou Istchee James Bay covers of land, making it the largest incorporated municipality in Canada — only eight ...

, in the administrative region of

Nord-du-Québec Nord-du-Québec (; ) is the largest, but the least populous, of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada. Spread over nearly 14 degrees of latitude, north of the 49th parallel, the region covers on the Labrador Peninsula, making ...

, 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.

Geography

The Roggan River is the penultimate river south of Louis XIV Point, which delineates

and

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

; the mouth of the river is located southeast of Pointe Louis-XIV. The Roggan flows south and parallel to the Seal River; as well as north and parallel to the Piagochioui River. Located near the locality of Kanaaupscow, Amichikukamaskach Lake (length: by wide) is the head lake of the Roggan River, located to the west of the

Robert-Bourassa Reservoir The Robert-Bourassa Reservoir () is a man-made lake in northern Quebec, Canada. It was created in the mid-1970s as part of the James Bay Project and provides the needed water for the Robert-Bourassa and La Grande-2-A generating stations. It has ...

. Along its westward course (in the direction of

), the Roggan escapes and forms several important lakes, including Lakes Lorin (altitude: ), Pamigamachi (altitude: ) and Roggan (altitude: ). The waters of the Roggan River flow into an archipelago of islands on the northeastern coast of

, in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of the same name as the river. South of the Roggan River, a chain of hills (height between to ) with a complex relief stretches long north-west of the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir.

Toponymy

A written source indicates that, in 1828, the Roggan was dubbed the "Pishop Roggan". The spelling "Bishoproggin R." (later "Bishop Roggan River" or "Bishop Roggan's River") appears on an Arrowsmith British North America map (1822). According to geographer

J. Keith Fraser John Keith Fraser (born February 18, 1922) is a Canadian physical geographer. He served as president of the Canadian Association of Geographers, as well as the executive secretary, publisher and general manager of the Royal Canadian Geographical ...

, in ''Place Names of the Hudson Bay'' ''Region'' (1968), the term "Bishoproggin" is an

anglicization Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English languag ...

of the

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

words ''pichipouian'' or ''peshipwaytok'', or "fish tank". However, no source shows a

toponymic Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

link with the country's clergy or religious history. Locally, the Cree people designate the Roggan ''Amistustikwach'', which means "three rivers". The toponym ''Rivière Roggan'' was formalised on 5 December 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 ...

(i.e., at the foundation of this commission)./ct /ToposWeb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=54193 Commission de toponymie du Quebec – Bank of Place Names – Toponym: "Roggan River"
/ref>

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roggan, river Rivers of Nord-du-Québec

Geography

Toponymy

See also

Notes and references