Editing Innu (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2024}}
[[File:HIND(1863) LABRADOR-EXP. p180 VIEW FROM THE OJIAPISITAGAN OR TOF OF THE RIDGE PORTAGE AT THE SUMMIT.jpg|thumb|Reindeer hunting in Labrador]]
The Innu were possibly the group identified in [[Greenlandic Norse]] by [[Norsemen]] as ''[[Skræling]]s''. They referred to [[Nitassinan]] as ''[[Markland]]''.

The Innu were historically allied with neighbouring [[Atikamekw]], [[Wolastoqiyik]] (Maliseet) and [[Algonquin people|Algonquin]] peoples against their enemies, the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian-speaking]] [[Mi'kmaq]] and [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoian-speaking]] Five Nations of the [[Iroquois]] Confederacy (known as ''Haudenosaunee''. During the [[Beaver Wars]] (1609–1701), the Iroquois repeatedly invaded the Innu territories from their homelands south of the [[Great Lakes]]. They took women and young males as captive slaves, and plundered their hunting grounds in search of more furs. Since these raids were made by the Iroquois with unprecedented brutality, the Innu themselves adopted the torment, torture, and cruelty of their enemies.

The Naskapi, on the other hand, usually had to confront the southward advancing Inuit in the east of the peninsula.

[[File:HIND(1863) LABRADOR-EXP. p378 ROMAN CATHOLIC PROCESSION OF MONTAGNAIS AND NASQUAPEES AT THE MISSION OF SEVEN ISLANDS.jpg|thumb|Roman Catholic procession of First Nations people in the Labrador peninsula]]

Innu [[oral tradition]] describes the original encounters of the Innu and the French explorers led by [[Samuel de Champlain]] as fraught with distrust. Neither group understood the language of the other, and the Innu were concerned about the motives of the French explorers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vincent|first=Sylvie|title=Aboriginality and Governance: A Multidisciplinary Approach|publisher=Theytus Books|year=2006|isbn=1894778243|editor-last=Christie|editor-first=Gordon|location=[[Penticton Indian Reserve]], [[British Columbia]]|pages=7–9|chapter=The Uepishtikueiau Narrative: The Arrival of the French at the site of Québec City according to Innu Oral Tradition}}</ref>

The French asked permission to settle on the Innu's coastal land, which the Innu called ''Uepishtikueiau''. This eventually developed as [[Quebec City]]. According to oral tradition, the Innu at first declined their request. The French demonstrated their ability to farm [[wheat]] on the land and promised they would share their bounty with the Innu in the future, which the Innu accepted.{{Sfn|Vincent|2006|p=10}}

Two distinct versions of the oral history describe the outcome. In the first, the French used gifts of farmed food and manufactured goods to encourage the Innu to become dependent on them. Then, the French changed it to a mercantile relationship: trading these items to the Innu in exchange for furs. When the nomadic Innu went inland for the winter, the French increased the size and population of their settlement considerably, eventually completely displacing the Innu.{{Sfn|Vincent|2006|p=12–15}}

The second, and more widespread, version of the oral history describes a more immediate conflict. In this version, the Innu taught the French how to survive in their traditional lands. Once the French had learned enough to survive on their own, they began to resent the Innu. The French began to attack the Innu, who retaliated in an attempt to reclaim their ancestral territory. The Innu had a disadvantage in numbers and weaponry, and eventually began to avoid the area rather than risk further defeat. During this conflict, the French colonists took many Innu women as wives. French women did not immigrate to New France in the early period.{{Sfn|Vincent|2006|p=15–17}}

French explorer Samuel de Champlain eventually became involved in the Innu's conflict with the Iroquois, who were ranging north from their traditional territory around the Great Lakes in present-day [[New York (state)|New York]] and Pennsylvania. On July 29, 1609, at [[Ticonderoga, New York|Ticonderoga]] or [[Crown Point, New York]], (historians are not sure which of these two places), Champlain and his party encountered a group of Iroquois, likely [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]], who were the easternmost tribe of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. A battle began the next day. As two hundred Iroquois advanced on Champlain's position, a native guide pointed out the three enemy chiefs to the French. According to legend, Champlain fired his [[arquebus]] and killed two of the Mohawk chiefs with one shot; one of his men shot and killed the third. The Mohawk reportedly fled the scene. Although the French also traded extensively with the Mohawk and other Iroquois, and converted some to Catholicism, they also continued to have armed conflicts with them.