Meeting Place

Canada #33 Wendake

Huron-Wendat people, traditional owners of the territory they call Nionwentsïo, have lived on the banks of the Akiawenrahk River for centuries. Also known as the Saint-Charles River, it teems with brook trout, eel and Atlantic salmon; in the Wyandot language of the First Nations people the river’s name means trout.

The river flows through the Huron-Wendat reserve of Wendake, home to more than 1,000 residents. But it’s not only the people who gather on the tree-lined banks of the river. The rushing water, cascading in a series of rapids and waterfalls known as Kabir Kouba or Silver Serpent, divides two ancient geological zones which meet here.

From the viewing platform above the river both formations are clearly visible. On the far side of the river above the falls is the Canadian Shield. The granite gneiss, formed more than one billion years ago, is hard and impervious to the erosive force of the water. Below the falls the sedimentary limestone of the Saint Lawrence Lowland, laid down 455 million years ago, has been worn away by the water, relentlessly carving deep gullies and polishing the riverbank’s stony surface.

With abundant animal and plant life and the beauty of the river, it’s easy to see why Huron-Wendat people made this area their home.