Grand-Calumet (Québec)

L'Île-du-Grand-Calumet (French pronunciation: [lil dy ɡʁɑ̃ kalymɛ]) is a municipality in the Outaouais region, part of the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The municipality consists primarily of Calumet Island (also Grand Calumet Island; in French Île du Grand Calumet), but also includes Lafontaine Island, French Island, Green Island, and numerous minor surrounding islets, all in the Ottawa River, approximately two kilometres (1¼ miles) from Campbell's Bay, two kilometres (1¼ miles) from Bryson. Grand-Calumet is the principal settlement of L'Île-du-Grand-Calumet. Its centre is the Sainte-Anne Church, which is alongside the municipal building and the school. It is also the site where First Nation tribes held their annual pow-wow, occasionally smoking their calumet, from which its name is derived. Bordering on Whitewater Region, Ontario, the municipality is the co-location of some of the roughest sections on the Ottawa River, popular with kayakers and rafters. Three whitewater rafting companies based in L'Île-du-Grand-Calumet take adventurers down the Rocher Fendu Rapids, known as the best whitewater rapids in Eastern North America.