Kashtin are Innu. Innu means "the people" and is their term for
themselves. Previously, the Innu were called Montagnais or
Montagnais/Naskapi by the French.
They are "Indians" along with their neighbours the Cree, Mohawks, Abenaki,
Micmac, Huron and others.
Their neighbours to the North are Inuit (which also means "the people").
The Inuit (what used to be called "Eskimos" by the English)
are a different people with different culture, language, music etc.
Perhaps they are directly related - but I don't think they would say so.
The current proximity of the Inuit to Innu at places like Davis Inlet and
Pointe-de-la-baliene has to do with settlement patterns imposed by the
government. The Montagnais had never been that far North before - they
only fled North (in some cases into Inuit country) to escape the colonizers.
The Innu language is similar to other Algonquin languages. Kashtin use
words that are heard in Cree, Ojibwe and other languages: Niganish (my
people) Ni tish (my daughter) etc.
The Inuktitut language is a whole other kettle of fish (sorry). I don't
think an Innu would understand it very well...
Ona
-- Michael Patterson spirit voice radio 93.1 FM 3-137 Columbus Ave. aboriginal voices magazine Ottawa Ontario Canada K1K 1P9 email aj096@freenet.carleton.ca fax and phone (613) 748 1636 algonguin territory