Mékinac Lake

Mékinac lake
Mékinac lake Mékinac Lake in Quebec
Location	Trois-Rives, non organized territory of Lac-Masketsi, Quebec
Coordinates	Coordinates: 47°03′20″N 72°40′40″W / 47.05556°N 72.67778°W / 47.05556; -72.67778
Type	natural
Primary inflows	Rivière du milieu (Mékinac), creek sleigh, creek Grosleau, creek Bastien, creek Pronovost
Primary outflows	Mékinac River
Catchment area	St. Lawrence River
Basin countries	Canada  Quebec
Max. length	18 km (11 mi)
Max. width	2.0 km (1 mi)
Surface area	22.77 km2 (8.79 sq mi)
Max. depth	146 m (479 ft)
Surface elevation	165 m (541 ft)
Settlements	Trois-Rives, La Tuque

The Mékinac Lake is a large lake of freshwater of province of Quebec (Canada), located mainly in the municipality Trois-Rives, in Mekinac Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Mauricie, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. The northern part of the lake and the bottom of the Bigué Bay (to the west) are within the La Tuque (urban agglomeration).

Like many historic waterways in the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes Basins, Mékinac Lake's name derives from a First Nations language. The Algonquin people who settled by the lake likened the shape of the high promontory overlooking a peninsula jutting into the lake from the east to a turtle, and so named it makinak (Ojibwe mikinaak—snapping turtle). The French used a version of the original pronunciation—Mékinac.

The name "Lake Mékinac" was officially registered as of December 5, 1968 at the "Bank of place names" of Commission de toponymie du Québec (Geographical Names Board of Québec).

The surname "Mekinac" is used in 1808 in the baptismal act of the child Pierre-Olivier Launière said Mekinac, from Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan. The designation "lake Mekinac" appears in 1863 as "Mekina" in a work of Stanislas Drapeau. The designation "Mekinac River" is mentioned in an 1870 report of the surveyor Hilarion Lefebvre. The designation "lake Mekinac" is shown on the official plan of Mékinac (township) in 1899. Finally, the Dictionary of rivers and lakes in the province of Quebec, published in 1914, mentions it. Forestry workers and other travelers coming from the south to reach the Mékinac Lake named on their way the Little Mékinac North River (Petite rivière Mékinac nord), located in the territory of Saint-Tite and Grandes-Piles.