ALGONQUIN

any of a number of scattered Algonquian-speaking bands and tribes living in dense forest regions on either side of the upper Ottawa River in Canada. They drew cultural traits from tribes flanking them on east and west, the Montagnais and Naskapi and the Ojibwa. Primarily hunters, engaging in only marginal corn (maize) cultivation, they were always few in number and were decimated by Iroquois raids and European diseases. About 2,000 survived into the late 20th century, however, making their living mainly as truck gardeners, hunters' guides, and trappers.