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Little Whale River
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Little Whale River |
| name_native | fr |
| name_other | *Wâpamekustûss* |
| map | Great Whale map.png |
| map_size | 250px |
| map_caption | The Little Whale is just north of the Great Whale River basin (in yellow) |
| subdivision_type1 | Country |
| subdivision_name1 | Canada |
| subdivision_type2 | Province |
| subdivision_name2 | Quebec |
| subdivision_type3 | Region |
| subdivision_name3 | Nunavik |
| length | 380 km |
| discharge1_avg | 280 m3/s |
| source1 | Unnamed |
| mouth | Hudson Bay |
| mouth_location | Point Qilalugarsiuvik |
| mouth_coordinates | |
| mouth_elevation | 0 m |
| basin_size | 15900 km2 |
| tributaries_left | Boutin River |
Not to be confused with the nearby Great Whale River, the Whale River to its northeast, or the White Whale River in Manitoba.
The Little Whale River (; ) is a river in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. With an area of 15900 km2, it is ranked as the 35th largest river basin in Quebec.
The Cree named a segment of the Little Whale River near its mouth as Wâpamekustus, which is similar to what Isbister noted in 1740. The Inuit call it Qilalugarsiuviup Kuunga, which means "river or place where beluga is hunted".
Its name has often been wrongly translated into French as Rivière de la Petite Baleine.
History
In the records of 1740 kept by Joseph Isbister of the Eastmain Post, there is reference to a river called Wapameg-Us-Sosh (meaning White Whale River), where a multitude of beluga is found. It mentions that the river is located a short distance south of the Gulph (that is Richmond Gulf or Lac Guillaume-Delisle in French).
The English name of the river was first recorded in 1744 in the logbooks of Hudson's Bay Company employees Thomas Mitchell and John Longland, while exploring the bay's coast. On July 29, Mitchell made mention of Little White Whale River.
Traces of copper were found on the Little Whale River in the mid 18th century. A house was built on that river for miners and a small whaling operation, but the mine produced nothing of value.
From 1853 to 1890, the Hudson's Bay Company operated a trading post, named after the river, at its mouth. Some time during this period, a group of Inuit came to the Little Whale River Post, found it occupied only by a boy, plundered the post and carried off the boy, who was later murdered. has long been abandoned.
References
References
- "Other Rivers Flowing Into the Atlantic Ocean". Natural Resources Canada.
- "Petite rivière de la Baleine". Commission de toponymie du Québec.
- "Grande rivière de la Baleine". Commission de toponymie du Québec.
- [[Arthur Silver Morton]], "A History of Western Canada", no date but some time after 1937, page 229
- [https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/resource/post_rec/post26.html#373 Hudson's Bay Company Archives]
- "Jiaviniup Narsanga". Commission de toponymie du Québec.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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