Les Escoumins, Quebec
| Les Escoumins | |
|---|---|
| Municipality | |
 |
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 Location within La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM. |
|
 Les Escoumins
|
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| Coordinates: 48°21′N 69°24′W / 48.350°N 69.400°WCoordinates: 48°21′N 69°24′W / 48.350°N 69.400°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
|
| Province |
 Quebec
|
| Region | Côte-Nord |
| RCM | La Haute-Côte-Nord |
| Settled | 1825 |
| Constituted | May 5, 1863 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | André Desrosiers |
| • Federal riding | Montmorency—Charlevoix —Haute-Côte-Nord |
| • Prov. riding | René-Lévesque |
| Area | |
| • Total | 282.70 km2 (109.15 sq mi) |
| • Land | 271.72 km2 (104.91 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 2,000 |
| • Density | 7.4/km2 (19/sq mi) |
| • Pop 2006-2011 |
 3.5% |
| • Dwellings | 918 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC−5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) |
| Postal code(s) | G0T 1K0 |
| Area code(s) | 418 and 581 |
| Highways |
 Route 138
|
| Website | www |
Les Escoumins is a municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord Regional County Municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec. It is located on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River.
Its economy is mostly based on the service sectors, especially education, health, and tourism. It is accessible via Route 138; a ferry service runs between Les Escoumins and Trois-Pistoles.
Its name has traditionally been recognized to come from the Montagnais iskomin, meaning "where there are many seeds" or "there are fruits or seeds", in turn from the roots isko or ishko ("as far as this/that") and min (red seeds, or wild berries in general). According to more recent theory, it could also be a variation of the Mi'kmaq term eskumunaak, meaning "lookout place". In addition, other sources say that the place is named Essipit in Montagnais, meaning "river of shells".
Several spellings have been used over the centuries such as Uscamin, Les Escoumains, Essuie-Mains, L'Esquemin, Lesquemin, Leschemin (Champlain, 1629), L'Esquemain, and Lesquemain (1611 map of Champlain and other texts of 1626). The oldest reference to this name dates back to the map of Levasseur of 1601, that shows Escanimes; and to a contract of 1604 that included the rare spelling Esguenim.
The area is considered the cradle of the Côte-Nord Amerindian, who have lived there for thousands of years. The Montagnais and Mi'kmaq frequented the place, particularly in the spring to gather berries that covered the rocks and adorned the mossy plains.
The first Europeans in the area were the Basques around the 1630s. In 1723, a cross was erected in honor of Our Dame of Bon-Desir, whereafter the place was also known as Bon-Desir. That same year the Mission of Saint-Marcellin was founded. But the first permanent European settler in Escoumins was Joseph Moreau, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, who arrived in 1825. It wasn't until 1845 that a real village began to form when many families from the South Shore, especially from Trois-Pistoles, Rivière-Ouelle, Rimouski, and a group of Charlevoix settled there.
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Wikipedia