In 1995, our team decided to explore rivers in the James Bay region of northern Quebec, Canada. We drove north from New England and eventually arrived at the Cree village of Nemaska. We put in along Nemaska road and entered the Rupert watershed near Lake Nemaska. We paddled to the lake and encountered a large group Cree who had gathered at the original site of the village. It was an Annual summer gathering and during this particular summer many of the Cree were busy remodeling and reconstructing some of the original village buildings. It is one of the few times we have encountered anyone else in the bush.
Shortly thereafter, we portaged into the Broadback River and passed under the James Bay road; where we met two members of our team that were only able to take two weeks vacation that year. We then followed the river to its mouth on Rupert Bay. After a short paddle up the coast of the bay we arrived at the Cree village of Waskaganish.
The rivers in the James Bay region have a different character from the rivers to the north. The shorelines are heavily wooded and the water is a rusty-coffee color as a result of naturally occuring tannin.
To see photos from the expedition click on the albums below:
Photo Album 1
Photo Album 2
Number of paddlers: 4