The Ojibway people living on the North Shore of Lake Superior (ancestors of Pays Plat First Nations people) survived by hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering food. The area was heavily involved in the fur trade, and the ancestors living near what is now called Pays Plat were key in trapping for furs. Pays Plat was named by French traders and means flat land, named after the fact that it is flat land between two mountains.