Innu
 Innu traders outside the Hudson's Bay Company trading post in Davis Inlet, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1903 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 28,960 (2021 census) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Canada | |
| Languages | |
| Innu-aimun, Naskapi, English, French | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, other | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Cree, Algonquin people, Naskapi, Atikamekw |
total. Replace with population.related. Replace with related_groups.langs. Replace with languages.rels. Replace with religions.| Innu, Ilnu / assi "person" / "land" | |
|---|---|
| Person | Innu / Ilnu |
| People | Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh |
| Language | Innu-aimun |
| Country | Nitassinan |
The Innu (the singular form of Innut, meaning "people"), also known as the Montagnais (/ˌmɔːntənˈjɛ/; French for "mountain people"), are an Indigenous Canadian people inhabiting northeastern Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to their traditional homeland as Nitassinan ("our land") or Innu-assi ("Innu land").
The ancestors of the modern First Nations were known to have lived on these lands as hunter-gatherers for many thousands of years. 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.
The Innu language is spoken throughout Nitassinan, with certain dialect differences. It is part of the Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi dialect continuum, and is unrelated to the Inuit languages of other nearby peoples.
The Innu are broadly divided into the Montagnais in the forested south and the Naskapi in the north. The groups differ in dialect and partly also in their way of life and culture. Today, about 28,960 people of Innu origin live in various Indian settlements and reserves in Quebec and Labrador.