Mushuau Innu First Nation

The Mushuau Innu First Nation is located in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. This First Nations band government has one reserve which has been located near the community of Natuashish since 2002 when it moved from Davis Inlet. The reserve has an area of roughly 43 square kilometres.

The Mushuau Innu and the Naskapi tribe were once the same people, speaking the same dialect and writing in syllabics, but split off and headed to Eastern Labrador, probably for sustainability reasons. Very few (if any) Mushuau Innu are able to write in syllabics any more. The majority of the tribe is Catholic and use the Montagnais Bible which does not use syllabics.

The chief of this First Nation is John Nui. As of March 2013, the First Nation has a registered population of 897 people, of whom 832 live on-reserve.

The Naskapi traditionally lived in the interior of Labrador and Quebec. In 1830, the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post at Fort Chimo, Rupert's Land and in 1831 they established one at Davis Inlet, Labrador. The HBC traded ammunition, tobacco and alcohol to the Naskapi in exchange for fur. It is likely that the substance abuse problems that exist among the Mushuau Innu started when the HBC arrived.

The traditional way of life of the Naskapi was threatened in 1916 when caribou herd were too small to sustain the Naskapi. The same year, a Naskapi settlement was recorded at "Old Davis Inlet" (located on mainland Labrador near the modern settlement). In 1942, the Commission of Government took control of the trading post at Davis Inlet. In 1945, a Catholic missionary (from Montreal according to the Innu) set up a church in the community. The missionary attempted to control alcohol abuse in the community around this time and allowed non-drinking Innu to have bigger punts. The 1945 census showed that a large Innu community existed at Davis Inlet and a few residents used the surname "Rich" however most residents did not use a surname. A small Innu population also existed in Nain.

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