Nitaskinan, also known as Nehirowisi Aski and Atikamekw Territory, is the ancestral

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

of the

Atikamekw The Atikamekw are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their historic territory, ('Our Land'), is in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley of Quebec (about north of Montreal). One of the main communities is Manawan, about northeast of Montreal. ...

people. It is located in the valley of the

Saint-Maurice River The Saint-Maurice River (, ; ) is one of the main tributaries of the St. Lawrence River, after the Ottawa River, Ottawa and the Saguenay River, Saguenay Rivers and drains an area of 42,735 km2. It touches the Lac Saint-Jean, Lake Saint John waters ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. It covers an area of . On 8 September 2014, the

Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw The Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw (CNA) ( French for "Council of the Atikamekw Nation"), officially named Atikamekw Sipi - Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw, is a tribal council in Quebec, Canada. It is composed of the three Atikamekw bands: Manaw ...

declared unilaterally the sovereignty of the Atikamekw Nation on the Nistaskinan. The objective of this is mainly to obtain a right of review for the projects exploiting the natural resources and to highlight the Atikamekw's identity. "Nitaskinan" means "our (excl.) land" in the

Atikamekw language Atikamekw (endonym: ''Atikamekw Nehiromowin'', literally "Atikamekw native language") is a variety of the Algonquian language Cree and the language of the Atikamekw people of southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is spoken by nearly all the Atikame ...

, where "Kitaskinan" means "our (inclusive) land," similar to other Cree languages' use of ''aski''. From a legal perspective, according to the Canadian ''

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...

'', the Atikamekw have self-administration on three

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

Manawan Manawan (named Manouane until 1991), officially named ''communauté Atikamekw de Manawan'' ( French for "Atikamekw Community of Manawan"), is a First Nations reserve on the south-western shores of Lake Métabeskéga in the Lanaudière region of ...

Obedjiwan Obedjiwan (officially designated as Obedjiwan 28) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations Indian reserve, reserve and village on the north shore of Gouin Reservoir in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. It belongs to the Atikamekw of Opi ...

and

Wemotaci Wemotaci (designated as Weymontachie 23 until 1997) is a First Nations reserve on the north shore of the Saint-Maurice River at the mouth of the Manouane River in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. Together with the Obedjiwan and the Couco ...

, but the Nitaskinan territory covers an area much wider.

Etymology

''Nitaskinan'' and ''Nehirowisi Aski'' mean "our land" and "Atikamekw Country," respectively, in Nehiromowin. Both centre the root ''aski'' ("land"), originating from

Proto-Algonquian Proto-Algonquian (commonly abbreviated PA) is the proto-language from which the various Algonquian languages are descended. It is generally estimated to have been spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, but there is less agreement on where it was ...

*axskiy, relating it to Ojibwemowin's ''aki'' and the ''Istchee'' in

Eeyou Istchee Eeyou Istchee is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) of Quebec that is represented by the Grand Council of the Crees. On July 24, 2012, the Quebec government signed an accord with the Cree Nation that resulted in the a ...

, each meaning "land" as well. The name "Atikamekw" is derived from ''

atikamekw The Atikamekw are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their historic territory, ('Our Land'), is in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley of Quebec (about north of Montreal). One of the main communities is Manawan, about northeast of Montreal. ...

'', which means "

lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...

" in Nehiromowin. In the language, the words '' nehirowisiwok'' and '' iriniwok'' are also used, both meaning " tikamekwpeople". The latter has its roots in Proto-Algonquian '' *elenyiwa'' ("human"); the former derives from ''rowi'' ("action, movement"), with the prefix ''nehi-'' ("balance") and the suffix ''-siw'' ("human being"). Both have cognates in the likes of: ''nêhinawak'' ᓀᐦᐃᓇᐘᐠ and ''ininiwak'' ᐃᓂᓂᐘᐠ (

Swampy Cree The Swampy Cree people, also known by their Exonym and endonym, autonyms ''Néhinaw'', ''Maskiki Wi Iniwak'', ''Mushkekowuk,'' ''Maškékowak, Maskegon'' or ''Maskekon'' (and therefore also ''Muskegon'' and ''Muskegoes'') or by exonyms includin ...

), ''nīhithawak'' ᓃᐦᐃᖬᐘᐠ and ''ithiniwak'' ᐃᖨᓂᐘᐠ (

Woods Cree Woods Cree is an indigenous language spoken in Northern Manitoba, Northern Saskatchewan and Northern Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi dialect continuum. The dialect continuum has around 116,000 speakers; the exact popul ...

), and '' nêhiyawak'' ᓀᐦᐃᔭ and ''iyiniwak'' ᐃᔨᓂᐘᐠ ( Plains Cree). ''Nitaskinan'' means "our ( excl.) land". It is formed by attaching the prefix ''ni-'' ("I; we") and the suffix ''-(i)nan'' ("us, but not your") to the root ''aski'', forming the

possessive A possessive or ktetic form (Glossing abbreviation, abbreviated or ; from ; ) is a word or grammatical construction indicating a relationship of possession (linguistics), possession in a broad sense. This can include strict ownership, or a numbe ...

. This construction is seen in neighbouring

Algonquian languages The Algonquian languages ( ; also Algonkian) are a family of Indigenous languages of the Americas and most of the languages in the Algic language family are included in the group. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from ...

like Plains Cree,

Anishinaabemowin Ojibwe ( ), also known as Ojibwa ( ), Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algon ...

, and Innu Aimun. Indeed, Innu use a similar construction to refer to their homeland:

Nitassinan Nitassinan () is the ancestral homeland of the Innu, an indigenous people of Eastern Quebec and Labrador, Canada. Nitassinan means "our land" in the Innu language. The territory covers the eastern portion of the Labrador peninsula.'' Nitassi ...

Notes

References

Atikamekw Geography of Quebec First Nations history in Quebec Indigenous politics in Canada Cultural regions of Canada {{Quebec-geo-stub

Etymology

See also

Notes

References