Nitaskinan is the ancestral

homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...

of the

Atikamekw The Atikamekw are the Indigenous inhabitants of the subnational country or territory they call ('Our Land'), in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley of Quebec (about north of Montreal), Canada. Their current population is around 8,000. One o ...

people. It is located in the valley of the

Saint-Maurice River The Saint-Maurice River (french: Rivière Saint-Maurice; Atikamekw: ''Tapiskwan sipi'') flows north to south in central Quebec from Gouin Reservoir to empty into the Saint Lawrence River at Trois-Rivières, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. F ...

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 thirteen ...

, Canada. It covers an area of 80,000 km² (30,000 sq. mi.) On 8 September 2014, the

Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw The Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw (CNA) ( French for "Council of the Atikamekw Nation"), officially named Atikamekw Sipi - Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw, is a tribal council in Quebec, Canada. It is composed of the three Atikamekw bands: Mana ...

declared unilaterally the sovereignty of the Atikamekw Nation on the Nistaskinan. The objective of this is mainly to obtain a right of review for the projects exploiting the natural resources and to highlight the Atikamekw's identity. "Nitaskinan" means "our (excl.) land" in the

Atikamekw language Atikamekw (endonym: ''Atikamekw Nehiromowin'', literally "Atikamekw native language") is a variety of the Algonquian language Cree and the language of the Atikamekw people of southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is spoken by nearly all the Atikamek ...

, where "Kitaskinan" means "our (inclusive) land," similar to other Cree languages' use of ''aski''. From a legal perspective, according to the

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' (, long name ''An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians'') is a Canadian act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and stil ...

, the Atikamekw have self-administration on three

Indian reserve 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 ...

Manawan Manawan (named Manouane until 1991), officially named ''communauté Atikamekw de Manawan'' ( French for "Atikamekw Community of Manawan"), is a First Nations reserve on the south-western shores of Lake Métabeskéga in the Lanaudière region of ...

, Obedjiwan and

Wemotaci Wemotaci (designated as Weymontachie 23 until 1997) is a First Nations reserve on the north shore of the Saint-Maurice River at the mouth of the Manouane River in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. Together with the Obedjiwan and the Coucou ...

, but the Nitaskinan territory covers an area much wider.

References

Atikamekw Geography of Quebec First Nations history in Quebec Indigenous politics in Canada Cultural regions {{Quebec-geo-stub

See also

References