Trading posts

In the Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean region, there were four (4) trading posts of more or less great importance the placements of which were strategically chosen because of the meeting areas of the families.  Chronologically posts were established at Tadoussac, Chicoutimi, Métabetchouan and Ashuapmushuan.  These posts were put in place during the contact period and, for the most part, continued to operate up to the creation of the reserve by the Canadian government.  Today, all of these posts have closed their doors permanently, leaving in place small riverside towns, one large city in the case of the Chicoutimi post (became Ville de Saguenay recently), and the northern forest which has retaken its rights in the case of the Ashuapmushuan post.  Little by little, the nerve centre of the fur trade has become the reserve where other trading posts have been established.