Rivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving water. We eat of their bounty and create power from their energy. Radio Netherlands tells the stories of some of these “arteries of the world”.
In this programme, we travel to the Rupert River, one of the largest rivers in Quebec, Canada. From its headwaters in Lake Mistassini, it flows west over five hundred kilometres into Rupert Bay on James Bay. The Rupert has long been an important river for the Cree of the area. The earliest Europeans arrived in 1668, as part of an expedition trying to bypass French control along the St. Lawrence River and thus break the French hold on the fur trade. The river is named after the sponsor of that expedition, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a nephew of King Charles I of England.
Producer: Michele Ernsting
Broadcast: November 22, 2002