Innu
/ˈɪn.uː/noun
A member of an Indigenous First Nations people of Labrador and eastern Quebec, or their Cree-related language.
Did you know?Innu is an autonym—a name the people use for themselves—and is related to the Innu language name Innu-aimun, meaning roughly “the Innu language.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Algonquian
Proto-Algonquian
*elenyiwa
“Person or human being; a reconstructed ancestral form”
Pre-contact period
Eastern Cree
innu
“Person or human being”
17th–19th Century
French
Montagnais
“A historical French name for the Innu, literally associated with people of the mountains”
20th Century
English
Innu
“The community’s preferred collective name in English usage”
Modern English
English
Innu
“A member of the Innu people, or pertaining to their language and culture”