Pipmuakan lies in the heart of the boreal forest, on the Nitassinan of the Innu First Nation of Pessamit. Since time immemorial, the Pessamiulnuat have occupied this land. Here, they feed and care for their people and perpetuate their way of life.
Why protect this place?
As a traditional gathering place for the Pessamiulnuat, the Pipmuakan region is essential to transmitting Innu heritage and identity. Not far from the community of Pessamit, Pipmuakan allows the Pessamiulnuat to stay connected to their traditional territory and introduce younger generations to their elders’ practices and knowledge.
Many iconic species frequent Pipmuakan. Among them is minashkuau-atiku, the woodland caribou – an animal sacred to the Innu, yet threatened with extinction. The Pipmuakan caribou herd, estimated at about 200 individuals, is one of the southernmost populations in Quebec. The survival of this population is of particular importance to the recovery of the species in Quebec, if a dramatic northward retreat of the caribou's range is to be avoided.
The continued expansion of logging in the Pipmuakan region threatens the practice and transmission of Innu Aitun – the Innu way of life – and the survival of caribou.
In November 2020, the Innu Council of Pessamit formalized an Indigenous protected area project to promote the sustainability of Innu culture, support language revitalization, actively contribute to the recovery of minashkuau-atiku (the woodland caribou) and positively impact the community.
Act now
Protect the Pipmuakan
Support the Innu First Nation of Pessamit for the protection of the Pipmuakan
CPAWS Quebec’s work
Anxious to maintain the link between the Pessamiulnuat and the Nitassinan and to ensure the Atik’s survival, the Pessamiulnuat are mobilizing to protect Pipmuakan. Though in favour of economic development on their land, the Innu Council of Pessamit has formalized an Indigenous protected area plan for Pipmuakan.
© Clotilde de Swarte, SNAP Québec
Key information
Support to the Conseil des Innus de Pessamit in the establishment of an Aboriginal protected area in Pipmuakan
Documentation of the biocultural values associated with the Pipmuakan territory, including Nutshimiu aimun, the language of the territory
Outing in the territory with the youth of the community
En savoir plus
En savoir plus
En savoir plus
En savoir plus
En savoir plus
En savoir plus
En savoir plus
