. ▁▁ ▁During ▁the ▁mid - tw enti eth ▁century , ▁Thomas ▁Nelson ▁D odd ▁Jr ., ▁Ph D , ▁an ▁American ▁professor ▁of ▁chem istry ▁from ▁St . ▁Peter ' s ▁College ▁in ▁New ▁Jersey , ▁encountered ▁the ▁C ree ▁people ▁living ▁at ▁Nem isc au ▁as ▁he ▁was ▁can oe ing ▁in ▁the ▁nearby ▁water ways . ▁He ▁developed ▁a ▁friendship ▁with ▁the ▁people , ▁and ▁returned ▁every ▁summer ▁as ▁a ▁kind ▁of ▁one - man ▁peace ▁corps . ▁During ▁his ▁years ▁with ▁the ▁C ree , ▁he ▁documented ▁their ▁spoken ▁dialect ▁which ▁had ▁never ▁been ▁written , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁their ▁custom s ▁and ▁hab its . ▁He ▁persu aded ▁the ▁Canadian ▁government ▁to ▁build ▁modern ▁housing ▁for ▁the ▁Cre es , ▁and ▁Dr . ▁D odd ' s ▁work ▁was ▁substantial ▁enough ▁to ▁mer it ▁a ▁federal ▁grant ▁of ▁$ 1 5 , 0 0 0 ▁from ▁the ▁American ▁Philosoph ic ▁Society ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 1 . ▁Dr . ▁D odd ▁returned ▁to ▁Nem isc au ▁every ▁summer ▁until ▁July ▁ 1 9 6 5 , ▁when ▁he ▁per ished ▁in ▁a ▁plane ▁crash ▁en ▁route ▁to ▁Nem isc au . ▁ ▁Nem isc au ▁is ▁the ▁former ▁site ▁of ▁a ▁Hudson ' s ▁Bay ▁Company ▁post ▁until ▁ 1 9 7 0 . ▁The ▁settlement ▁was ▁abandoned ▁in ▁the ▁mid ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁when ▁H ydro - Qu ébec ▁proposed ▁hydro - elect ric ▁development ▁on ▁the ▁Ru pert ▁River , ▁which ▁would