Historically the Innu indigenous people lived in this area and traveled the river by canoe. By the second half of the 17th century, the river was used by Europeans as an access route to James Bay. The first official reference to the river is from April 16, 1679, in the Register of missions, stating ""juxtà fluvium Perib8ka ad lacum Peok8agami"" (near the river Peribouka at Lake Peokouagami (old name of Lac Saint-Jean)) priest François de Crespieul baptized two children. In October of that year, after investigating the state of English positions on Hudson Bay, Louis Jolliet returned to Quebec City via this route and called it "Périboca" in his manuscript. The spelling changed to "Periboaka" on Laura's map of 1731 and "Periboac" on Nicolas Bellin's map of 1755. In 1825, Pascal Taché identified it as "Péribonka" and subsequently this name, together with "Peribonca", came in general use.