page_title: Little Whale River
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Little Whale River / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Print, Hudson Bay Post North Bluff, Little Whale River, QC, about 1878, John Henry Walker (1831-1899), Ink on paper mounted on card - Photolithography - 9 x 17 cm Français&#160;: Impression, Poste de North Bluff de la Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson, Petite rivière de la Baleine, QC, vers 1878, John Henry Walker (1831-1899), Encre sur papier monté sur carton - Photolithographie - 9 x 17 cm
context_page_description: The Little Whale River is a river in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. With an area of 15,900 square kilometres, it is ranked as the 35th largest river basin in Quebec.
  The Cree named a segment of the Little Whale River near its mouth as Wâpamekustus, which is similar to what Isbister noted in 1740. The Inuit call it Qilalugarsiuviup Kuunga, which means "river or place where beluga is hunted".
  Its name has often been wrongly translated into French as Rivière de la Petite Baleine.
context_section_description: In the records of 1740 kept by Joseph Isbister of the Eastmain Post, there is reference to a river called Wapameg-Us-Sosh (meaning White Whale River), where a multitude of beluga is found. It mentions that the river is located a short distance south of the Gulph  [sic] (that is Richmond Gulf or Lac Guillaume-Delisle in French).
  The English name of the river was first recorded in 1744 in the logbooks of Hudson's Bay Company employees Thomas Mitchell and John Longland, while exploring the bay's coast. On July 29, Mitchell made mention of Little White Whale River. For the 1750 mining attempt see Richmond Gulf.
  From 1853 to 1890, the Hudson's Bay Company operated a trading post, named after the river, at its mouth. This place, now known as Jiaviniup Narsanga, has long been abandoned.
caption: HBC Post, circa 1878
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