Nitaskinan
Nitaskinan, also known as Nehirowisi Aski and Atikamekw Territory, is the ancestral country of the Atikamekw people. It is located in the valley of the Saint-Maurice River in Quebec, Canada. It covers an area of. On 8 September 2014, the Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw 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 land" in the Atikamekw language, where "Kitaskinan" means "our land," similar to other Cree languages' use of aski. From a legal perspective, according to the Canadian Indian Act, the Atikamekw have self-administration on three Indian reserves, Manawan, Obedjiwan and Wemotaci, but territory of Nitaskinan covers an area much wider.
Etymology
Nitaskinan and Nehirowisi Aski mean "our land" and "Atikamekw Country," respectively, in Nehiromowin. Both centre the root aski, originating from Proto-Algonquian *axskiy, relating it to Ojibwemowin's aki and the Istchee in Eeyou Istchee, each meaning "land" as well.The name "Atikamekw" is derived from atikamekw, which means "lake whitefish" in Nehiromowin. In the language, the words nehirowisiwok and iriniwok are also used, both meaning " people". The latter has its roots in Proto-Algonquian *elenyiwa ; the former derives from rowi, with the prefix nehi- and the suffix -siw. Both have cognates in the likes of: nêhinawak ᓀᐦᐃᓇᐘᐠ and ininiwak ᐃᓂᓂᐘᐠ, nīhithawak ᓃᐦᐃᖬᐘᐠ and ithiniwak ᐃᖨᓂᐘᐠ, and nêhiyawak ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐘᐠ and iyiniwak ᐃᔨᓂᐘᐠ.
Nitaskinan means "our land". It is formed by attaching the prefix ni- and the suffix -nan to the root aski, forming the possessive. This construction is seen in neighbouring Algonquian languages like Plains Cree, Anishinaabemowin, and Innu Aimun. Indeed, Innu and Abenaki use similar constructions to refer to their homelands: Nitassinan and Ndakinna, respectively.