Montagnais (mŏntənyā`) and Naskapi (năs`kəpē), aboriginal peoples originally from Labrador, Canada. Because they both spoke almost identical Algonquian languages and had similar customs, the two groups are often linked. The Montagnais covered their conical wigwams with birch bark and hunted principally moose during the winter months, moving down the rivers in the spring to spear salmon and eels, and to harpoon seals along the shores of the St. Lawrence. The Naskapi covered their wigwams with caribou skin and hunted caribou from midsummer until early spring, when some of them moved down the coast, like the Montagnais, while others remained inland to fish in various lakes and rivers and to hunt hares, porcupines, and other small game. Contact with Europeans was disastrous to both peoples, leading to a precipitous population decline, the disappearance of cooperative hunting on communally exploited territory, and the emergence of an economy based on private property, fur trapping, and commercial exchange. Some 12,000 descendants of the Montagnais and the Naskapi now live on large reserves in Quebec.

Innu

also called Montagnais and Naskapi

North American Indian peoples living in Quebec and Labrador, Canada. The southern group has been referred to as the Montagnais and the northern group as the Naskapi. They speak almost identical Algonquian dialects. The southern Innu 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, eels, and seals. The northern Innu lived on the Labrador plateau, where they hunted caribou and fished; their name for themselves is Nenenot, meaning “true, real people.” 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. Population estimates indicated some 9,500 Innu descendants in the early 21st century.