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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 (excl.) land" in the Atikamekw language, where "Kitaskinan" means "our (inclusive) 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 , Manawan, Obedjiwan and Wemotaci, but territory of Nitaskinan covers an area much wider.
The name "Atikamekw" is derived from , which means "lake whitefish" in Nehiromowin. In the language, the words nehirowisiwok and iriniwok are also used, both meaning "Atikamekw people". The latter has its roots in Proto-Algonquian *elenyiwa ("human"); the former derives from rowi ("action, movement"), with the prefix nehi- ("balance") and the suffix -siw ("human being"). Both have cognates in the likes of: nêhinawak ᓀᐦᐃᓇᐘᐠ and ininiwak ᐃᓂᓂᐘᐠ (Swampy Cree), nīhithawak ᓃᐦᐃᖬᐘᐠ and ithiniwak ᐃᖨᓂᐘᐠ (Woods Cree), and ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐘᐠ and iyiniwak ᐃᔨᓂᐘᐠ (Plains Cree).
Nitaskinan means "our (clusivity) land". It is formed by attaching the prefix ni- ("I; we") and the suffix -(i)nan ("us, but not yours") to the root aski, forming the possessive. This construction is seen in neighbouring Algonquian languages like Plains Cree,9780889775503, University of Regina Press. . ISBN 9780889775503 Anishinaabemowin, and Innu language. Indeed, Innu and Abenaki use similar constructions to refer to their homelands: Nitassinan and Ndakinna, respectively.
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