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The Innu (or Montagnais) are the Aboriginal inhabitants of an area in Canada they refer to as ''Nitassinan'' (“Our Land”), which comprises most of the northeastern portion of the province of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador. Their population in 2003 included about 18,000 people, of which around 14,000 lived in Quebec, under 3000 in Labrador, and the rest outside their traditional territory. Their ancestors were known to have lived on these lands as hunter-gatherers for several thousand years, living in tents made of animal skins. Their subsistence activities were historically centred on hunting and trapping caribou, moose, deer and small game. Some coastal clans also practised agriculture, fished, and managed maple sugarbush. Their language, Innu or ''Ilnu'' (popularly known as ''Montagnais''),〔(Innu-Aimun - the language of the Innu (Montagnais) )〕 is spoken throughout Nitassinan, with certain dialect differences. It is part of Cree language group, and unrelated with neighboring Inuit language. The Innu were allied with neighbouring Atikamekw, Maliseet and Algonquin against their traditional enemies, the Mi'kmaq and Iroquois. During the Beaver Wars (1640 –1701) the Iroquois repeatedly invaded their territories, and enslaved women and warriors, as well as plundering their hunting grounds in search of more furs. Since these raids were made by the Iroquois with unprecedented brutality, the Innu themselves adopted the torment, torture, and cruelty of their enemies. The Naskapi, on the other hand, were usually in conflicts with the southward advancing Inuit in the east. ==Montagnais, Naskapi or Innu== The Innu people are frequently categorized into two groups, the ''Neenoilno'', often called by Europeans ''Montagnais'' (French: “mountain people”, ),〔Rogers & Leacock (1981:169)〕 or ''Innu proper'' (''Nehilaw'' and ''Ilniw'' - “people”), who live along the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, in Quebec; and the less numerous ''Naskapi'' (''Innu'' and ''Iyiyiw''), who live farther north. The Innu recognize several distinctions (e.g. Mushuau Innuat, Maskuanu, Uashau Innuat) based on different regional affiliations and various dialects of the Innu language. The word ''Naskapi'' was first recorded by French colonists in the 17th century and was subsequently applied to Innu groups beyond the reach of missionary influence. It particularly applied to those living in the lands which bordered Ungava Bay and the northern Labrador coast, near the Inuit communities of northern Quebec and northern Labrador. It is here that the term came to be used for the Naskapi First Nation. The Naskapi are traditionally nomadic peoples, in contrast with the more sedentary ''Montagnais'', who establish settled territories. ''Mushuau Innuat'' (plural), while related to the Naskapi, split off from the tribe in the 1900s. They were subject to a government relocation program at Davis Inlet. Some of the families of the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach have close relatives in the Cree village of Whapmagoostui, on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay. Since 1990, the Montagnais people have generally chosen to be officially referred to as the Innu, which means ''human being'' in ''Innu-aimun'', while the Naskapi have continued to use the word ''Naskapi''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Innu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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