MONTAGNAIS AND NASKAPI

two nomadic Indian peoples of northeastern North America, speaking almost identical Algonquian dialects and enjoying similar cultures, differing chiefly in their adaptions to different environments. The Montagnais, traditionally occupying a large forested area paralleling the northern shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, lived in birch-bark wigwams and subsisted on moose, salmon, eel, and seal. The Naskapi, living farther north on the vast Labrador plateau of grasslands and tundra, hunted caribou for both food and skins to cover their wigwams; fish and small game supplemented the Naskapi diet. The name Montagnais is French, meaning mountaineers; Naskapi is an Indian name meaning rude, uncivilized people, in apparent reference to their remote frontier life. Montagnais dressed in robe, breechcloth, leggings, and moccasins, much like their southern neighboursand ancient enemiesthe Iroquois and Micmac. Naskapi wore tailored clothing similar to that of the coastal Eskimo, their only traditional foes. For both groups, canoes furnished transportation in summer, and sleds and snowshoes were used in winter; dog traction has been a fairly recent borrowing from the Eskimo. Religious belief centred on manitou, or supernatural power; much importance was attached to various nature and animal spirits, both evil and benevolent. No tribal organization existed; the people were grouped into small bands of related families, often shifting in composition with the rise and fall of successful leaders. The southern bands had fur-trapping and hunting territories, at least partly imposed by the European fur trade. The northern Naskapi territories were larger and more loosely defined. Most Montagnais and Naskapi continue to rove in bands, spending the winter hunting and trapping in the interior and coming in summer to the coastal trading stations, but the use of firearms for almost three centuries has decimated the game supply and made life harder. The influence of modern Western industrial culture also has accelerated changes in their cultural patterns.