Naskapi

The Naskapi (Nascapi, Naskapee, Nascapee) are an Indigenous people of the Subarctic native to the historical region St'aschinuw (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, meaning 'our [inclusive] land'), which was located in present day northern Quebec, neighbouring Nunavik. They are closely related to Innu People, who call their homeland Nitassinan.

Innu people are frequently divided into two groups, the Neenoilno (called Montagnais by French people) who live along the Quebec north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and the less numerous Naskapi who live farther north near Nunavik. The Innu themselves recognize several distinctions (e.g. Mushuau Innuat, Maskuanu Innut, Uashau Innuat) based on different regional affiliations and various dialects of the Innu language.

The word "Naskapi" (meaning "people beyond the horizon") first made an appearance in the 17th century, as Innu began moving into Labrador to trade with European explorers and traders and it was subsequently applied to Innu groups beyond the reach of missionary influence, most notably those living in the lands which bordered Ungava Bay and inland area between Hudson's Bay and the Torngat Mountain range. The Naskapi are traditionally nomadic peoples, in contrast with the territorial Montagnais. Mushuau Innuat (plural), the Naskapi who were then spending more time in Labrador, split off from the tribe in the 20th century and settled on the Labrador coast between Inuit communities at Davis Inlet. In the 1990's, due to the challenges with that community location, the government of Canada assisted in relocating the community to Shango Bay, now called Natuashish. The Naskapi language and culture is quite different from the Montagnais, in which the dialect changes from y to n as in "Iiyuu" versus "Innu". Some of the families of Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach have close relatives in the Cree village of Whapmagoostui, on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay.