Nitassinan
Nitassinan ᓂᑕᔅᓯᓇᓐ | |
|---|---|
| Time immemorial–1763 (as a State) | |
 | |
| Status | Unrecognized / former country |
| Common languages | French, Innu-aimun, English, LSQ, ASL |
| Demonym | Innu |
| History | |
• Established | Time immemorial |
| 1876 | |
• Disestablished | 1763 (as a State) |
| Today part of | Quebec & Labrador, Canada |
| Innu, Ilnu / assi "person" / "land" | |
|---|---|
| Person | Innu / Ilnu |
| People | Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh |
| Language | Innu-aimun |
| Country | Nitassinan |
Nitassinan (Innu: ᓂᑕᔅᓯᓇᓐ) is the ancestral homeland, or country, 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.[1] In the northern reaches of Nitassinan lies St'aschinuw (Naskapi: ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ), the Naskapi homeland.
The first interactions with Europeans were with the Vikings who referred to the Innu as the Skræling. Alongside Helluland (probably eastern Inuit Nunangat) and Vinland (probably Newfoundland), the Greenlandic Norse called the Labrador region of Innu Country Markland.
Etymology
[edit]Nitassinan and, the more restrained term Innu Assi, mean "our land" and "Innu Country," respectively, in Innu-aimun. Both centre the root assi ("land"), originating from Proto-Algonquian *axskiy,[2] relating it to the aski in Nitaskinan, Ojibwemowin's aki, and the Istchee in Eeyou Istchee,[note 1] each meaning "land" as well.
Nitassinan means "our (excl.) land". It is formed by attaching the prefix ni- ("I; we") and the suffix -(i)nan ("us, but not yours") to the root aski, forming the possessive.[5] This construction is seen in neighbouring Algonquian languages like Nehiromowin, Anishinaabemowin,[6] and Plains Cree,.[7] Indeed, Atikamekw and Abenaki use similar constructions to refer to their homelands: Nitaskinan and Ndakinna, respectively.
Notes
[edit]- ^ (/iːjoʊ̯ ɪst͡ʃi/,[3] Northern East Cree: ᐄᔨᔨᐤ ᐊᔅᒌ Iiyiyiu Aschii /ijɪjɪu əstʃi/, Southern East Cree: ᐄᔨᔫ ᐊᔅᒌ Iiyiyuu Aschii /ijɪju əstʃi/ or ᐄᓅ ᐊᔅᒌ Iinuu Aschii /inu əstʃi/, all meaning 'The People's Land';[4] French: [iju istʃi])
References
[edit]- ^ Nitassinan: The Innu Struggle to Reclaim Their Homeland, Douglas & McIntyre, December 1991, 240pp, by Marie Wadden, ISBN 978-1-55365-731-6, (book link) Archived 2013-01-21 at archive.today, (retrieved 11/19/2012)
- ^ "axkyi". Proto-Algonquian Online Dictionary. Algonquian Dictionaries Project. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
- ^ "Video". www.youtube.com. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
- ^ "Eastern James Bay Cree Dictionary on the Web: Words". Eastern James Bay Cree Dictionary on the Web. 2018-12-13. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
- ^ "The Possessive". Innu Aimun Language Resources. Algonquian Dictionaries Project. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
- ^ "Notes on Possessed Nouns" (PDF). Ojibwe Grammar. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
- ^ Okimāsis, Jean L. Cree Language of the Plains - nehiyawewin paskwāwi-pīkiskwēwin (PDF). University of Regina Press. p. 250. ISBN 978-0- 88977-550-3. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
52°49′9.8″N 67°11′53.3″W / 52.819389°N 67.198139°W
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