Kiamika, Quebec

Kiamika is a municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Antoine-Labelle Regional County Municipality.

Joseph Montferrand (1802-1864), a logger of imposing stature and extraordinary physical strength, was from Kiamika.

Etymology

The municipality is named after the Kiamika River, which flows through its territory and is a tributary of the Du Lièvre River. This name, mentioned by Stanislas Drapeau as Kiamica and appearing on a map of Quebec by Eugène Taché from 1870, comes from the Algonquin word kickiamika meaning "steep cut below the water", from kicki (steep cut) and amick (below the water).

However, an alternate meaning may be "deep and quiet river", from the roots kiam (deep) and ka (quiet).

History

In 1883, the Colonization Society of Montarville was founded and took possession of the area in 1884. Settlers established on the banks of the Du Lièvre River, about 11 km south of Val-Barrette, the mission of Saint-Gérard-de-Kiamika, also called Saint-Gérard-de-Montarville. A year later its post office opened. In 1890, the Kiamika Township is proclaimed.