Montagnais, Naskapi or Innu
The Innu people are frequently categorized into two groups, the Montagnais (French: “mountain people”, /ˌmɔːntənˈjeɪ/) 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.
The Innu should not be confused with the Inuit, a distinct people who live in the Canadian Arctic.
Read more about this topic: Innu People