Description
The Innu, formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period (French for "mountain people"), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the northeastern portion of the present-day province of Labrador and some portions of Quebec. The Innu were historically allied with neighbouring Atikamekw, Maliseet and Algonquin peoples against their enemies, the Algonquian-speaking Mi'kmaq and Iroquoian-speaking Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy (known as Haudenosaunee. During the Beaver Wars (1609-1701), the Iroquois repeatedly invaded the Innu territories from their homelands south of the Great Lakes. They took women and young males as captive slaves, and plundered 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.
Language
Their language, Ilnu-Aimun or Innu-Aimun (popularly known since the French colonial era as Montagnais)
Culture
To support their seasonal hunting migrations, they created portable tents made of animal skins. Their subsistence activities were historically centred on hunting and trapping caribou, moose, deer, and small game. Innu people living to the south dressed in robes, loincloths or dresses, leggings, and moccasins, much like their southern neighbours—and ancient enemies—the Iroquois and Micmac. More northerly Innu people wore tailored clothing similar to that of the coastal Eskimo, their only traditional foes. For both groups canoes furnished transportation in summer; snowshoes and dogsleds were used in winter. Religious belief involved animism and centred on manitou, or supernatural power, with much importance also attached to various nature and animal spirits, both evil and benevolent.