Innu

[ ee-noo, ih-noo ]

noun

, plural In·nus, (especially collectively) In·nu

1. a member of one of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, divided into two linguistic groups, a larger southern group that French colonists called the Montagnais and a smaller northern group they called the Naskapi.
2. the Algonquian languages of the Innu, closely related to Cree.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Innu or their languages.

Innu

/ ˈɪnuː /

noun

1. a member of an Algonquian people living in Labrador and northern Quebec
2. the Algonquian language of this people

Word History and Origins

Origin of Innu¹

First recorded in 1990–95; from Innu; literally, “person”

Example Sentences

Slowly, the joyous faces of a pair of young Innu girls come into view, bathed in the glow of headlamps, as they delight in a night-fishing expedition with their families.

From New York Times

"This COP is all about halting and reversing biodiversity loss," said Valérie Courtois of the Innu community of Mashteutiatsh and director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative.

From Salon

Shaking hands with Innu women while visiting central Labrador, Canada, in 1997.

From New York Times

They are a band of mostly pine, birch and spruce trees that stretches across Alaska, Canada, northern Scandinavia and Siberia, and is home to hundreds of Indigenous communities like the Innu and Cree.

From New York Times

She began her Friday news conference by offering condolences to the loved ones of Raphaël André, a 51-year-old homeless Innu man whose body was found in a portable toilet Jan. 17, a stone’s throw from a Montreal shelter he often frequented that was forced to halt overnight services because of an outbreak.

From Washington Post