Innu Nation of Matimekush-Lac John (or La Nation Innu Matimekush-Lac John in French) is a

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

band government based out of Schefferville,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The members of the band are

Innu people The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the ...

and speak the

Innu language Innu-aimun or Montagnais is an Algonquian language spoken by over 10,000 Innu in Labrador and Quebec in Eastern Canada. It is a member of the Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi dialect continuum and is spoken in various dialects depending on the comm ...

, an Algonquian language which is a member of the Cree–Montagnais–

Naskapi The Naskapi (Nascapi, Naskapee, Nascapee) are an Indigenous people of the Subarctic native to the historical country St'aschinuw (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, meaning 'our nclusiveland'), which is located in northern Quebec and Labrador, neighb ...

dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...

Location

Schefferville is in northern Quebec less than from the border with

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

. It is located within the

Caniapiscau Regional County Municipality Caniapiscau is a regional county municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Fermont. The census groups Caniapiscau RCM with neighbouring Sept-Rivières into the single census division of Sept-Rivières—Caniapiscau. ...

in the ''

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...

'' (or North Coast) region of Quebec. The Nation controls two

Indian reserves In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified 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." Ind ...

: Matimekosh 3 is a enclave in the center of the Town of Schefferville; and

Lac-John Lac-John is a First Nations reserve on John Lake in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada, about north-east from the centre of Schefferville. Together with the Matimekosh Reserve, it belongs to the Innu Nation of Matimekush-Lac John. It is g ...

is located about north of Schefferville. Schefferville, and hence the reserves, is not connected to the North American highway system. The community is accessible via air through

Schefferville Airport Schefferville Airport is located adjacent to the community of Schefferville, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northw ...

or via rail on

Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Inc. is a rail company that owns and operates a Canadian regional railway In the United States, a regional railroad is a railroad company that is not Class I, but still has a substantial amount of traffic or track ...

which is partially owned by the band.

Population

, the Nation had a registered population of 1,038 people with 851 people living on the two reserves. For Statistics Canada's 2016 Canadian Census, Matimekosh had 613 residents up 13.5% from 540 residents found in the 2011 Canadian Census. Lac-John had 33 residents in 2016 up 57.1% from 21 in 2011. In the 2016 Census, 94.6% of the band spoke an Indigenous language at home with 86.8% first learned an Indigenous language. 7.0% can speak only

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, 54.3% can speak only French, 27.9% can speak both, while 10.9% cannot speak either

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

Governance

The Nation has a five member council with a chief and four councilors. For the 2019–2022 tenure, Réal McKenzie is the chief.

References

External links

* * {{authority control First Nations in Quebec First Nations governments Innu