Montagnais
Location: The Montagnais lived originally in Labrador, Canada.
The word Montagnais is French, meaning "mountaineers". There are many ways to spell their
name, including Montagnar, Moatagne, Montagnie, and
Montainier. Labrador is located in the northeastern
part of North America. Most of the Montagnais groups were located along
the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. This accounts for why the French gave them
the name Montagnais, due in large part to the ruggedness of the land along the
St. Lawrence.
In recent times, the Montagnais and the Naskapi joined to create the
Innu. Currently
there are about 12,000 Innu living on reservations
throughout Quebec.
Language: The Naskapi are closely related to the Montagnais. Because of this,
information about these people is grouped together. Both groups speak
almost identical Algonquian dialects. Traditions: The
Montagnais and Naskapi have similar cultures. Both the Montagnais and the Naskapi
live in shelters called wigwams. A wigwam is a shelter made out of reeds,
mats, or hides from animals. The shape is similar to a teepee but is
larger. This form of shelter is usually used for large groups of people
or single families. The wigwams used by the Montagnais are covered
by birch-bark. The Naskapi lived farther north where birch trees were
very scarce. Instead of using bark for their wigwams, they used caribou
hides.
The Montagnais hunted eel, seal,
caribou and moose. One of the delicacies of the Montagnais was the
porcupine. Some people actually called the Montagnais the "Porcupine
Indians" because they enjoyed the animals so much. In addition to hunting
animals for food, they also used the hides of seal, moose and caribou for
clothing. Their basic clothes consisted of a robe, breechcloth, leggings,
and moccasins. The Montagnais traveled from summer and winter camps using
canoes in the summer and snowshoes in the winter. They
recently borrowed the use of dogsleds from the
Inuit.
History: The organization of the Montagnais was based on small bands.
Most members of these bands were closely related family members. The
composition of the bands changed from time to time with the rise and fall of
successful leaders. Southern bands were imposed by the European fur trade to
create fur-trapping and hunting territories. With the interaction of the
Europeans, the Montagnais were exposed to many new items, including items made
of metal. Anything that was made of metal had great value. Many furs
could be traded for one gun, a pot or a pan, or other metal objects. The
Europeans not only introduced new things that the Montagnais could use, they
also introduced disease and over hunting of the animals that the Montagnais use
for food.
Though this page has been carefully researched, the author does not
claim expertise on the Montagnais.
Please send questions, comments, and corrections to emuseum@mnsu.edu and include the web address of this page.
If you are a descendant of the Montagnais, your feedback is much appreciated.
Innu-aimu Community Site http://www.innu-aimun.ca/
Sources:
"The Innu" (1997) www.heritage.ng.ca/aboriginal/innu.html, accessed April 10,
2001.
"Montagnais and Naskapi" Britannica.com http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9053461, accessed April 10, 2001.
"Montagnais" www.dickshovel.com/mon.html, accessed April
24, 2001.
"Montagnais and Naskapi" Encyclopedia.com http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/08692.html, accessed April 10, 2001.
Written by: Clint Warriner
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