Montagnais and Naskapi

Two related North American Indian peoples living in Quebec and Labrador, Can.

They speak almost identical Algonquian dialects. The Montagnais, whose name is French, meaning "Mountaineers," traditionally occupied a large forested area above the northern shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They lived in birch-bark wigwams and subsisted on moose, salmon, eel, and seal. The Naskapi, whose name is derived from a Montagnais word meaning "savage," lived farther north on the Labrador plateau, where they hunted caribou and fished. Both groups used canoes in summer and sleds and snowshoes in winter. Religious belief centred on manitou, or supernatural power; much importance was attached to nature and animal spirits. The basic social unit was the nomadic band. Both groups now call themselves Innu

not to be confused with Inuit (see Eskimo)

meaning "People." Together the Montagnais and Naskapi total some 20,000, the vast majority of whom are Montagnais.

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