Because of mining development in the early 1950s, some 200 Naskapi from Fort Chimo were relocated to Schefferville in 1955 and settled near the train station in shacks built with scavenged materials.

In 1956, a dozen Innu families from Maliotenam, near Sept-Îles, arrived and set up an encampment at Knob Lake, near the present airport.

[5] In 1967, the Government of Canada purchased land from the reluctant Municipality of Schefferville a marshy 37 acres (15 ha) site on Pearce Lake north of the town centre.

[1] Economic development is promoted by the organization Corporation de développement économique Matimekush - Lac John.

There is only one school on the reserve, École Kanatamat Tshitipenitamunu, that provides pre-Kindergarten to Secondary 4 (grade 10), and had an enrolment of 114 students in 2008-2009.