Rupert River
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The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec, Canada. From its headwaters in Lake Mistassini, the largest natural lake in Québec, it flows 600 km west into Rupert Bay on James Bay. The Rupert drains an area of 43,400 km². There is some extremely large whitewater on the river, but paddlers can avoid much of it by portage routes on the side. The most impressive falls, which cannot be avoided except by portaging, are the "Oatmeal Rapids" right at the Route de la Baie James (a set of cascades dropping 18m) and "The Fours" near the end of the river (a 24m drop).
The Rupert has long been an important river for the Cree of the area. Every year, a group of Cree youth from the village of Waskaganish, at the mouth of the Rupert, travel up the river to Lake Nemiscau.
[edit] History
In 1668, an expedition led by Médard des Groseilliers came to the mouth of the Rupert River in order to bypass French controlled areas along the St. Lawrence River and in doing so, trying to break the French hold on the fur trade. They named the river after the sponsor of the expedition, Prince Rupert. A fort was established at the mouth of the river, which later became the trading post Rupert House, the oldest trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company. From then on, the Rupert River played a vital role in supplying inland trading posts (such as Nemiscau and Mistissini) with regular canoe brigades, right until the beginning of the twentieth century when supplies started to come from the south via rail and later road.
While having lost its importance as a trade route, the Rupert River has long been a popular destination for recreational canoe camping and whitewater canoeing.
[edit] Hydroelectric development
A proposal to divert the headwaters of the Rupert River into the La Grande hydroelectric complex is currently undergoing joint environmental assessments by the Cree, Québec and Canadian authorities.
In a 2002 landmark agreement between the Government of Québec and the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), La Paix des braves (literally "The Peace of the Brave"), the two parties agreed to authorize the completion of a long-delayed hydroelectric project on the Eastmain River, just to the north of the Rupert River. A subsequent agreement in April 2004 put an end to all litigation between the two parties and opening the way to a joint environmental evaluation of the diversion of the Rupert River, northwards to the Eastmain River and on into the La Grande hydrolectric watershed.
The new Grand Chef of the Crees, Matthew Mukash[1], elected in late 2005, is opposed to the Rupert project and intends to convince the Québec government of the merits of wind turbines. Preliminary studies point to a very large potential for wind power development in the northern portion of the Jamésie region, just to the north of the La Grande complex. Migratory birds are rare in this area and there are no human settlements for hundreds of kilometres.
