Abstract

Algonquian languages seem to have moved into the boreal forest on three occasions. The earliest is the spread of Cree, carried by Laurel culture, from a prior position northwest of Lake Michigan around both ends of Lake Superior starting around 100 B.C. The second entry occurred about A.D. 1 in the southcentral Quebec peninsula. It was heralded by the Middlesex complex, the carrier of Eastern Algonquian, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence and penetrated far inland at the Caniapiscau site (GcEl-1) which seems to be Middlesex related. This may be the founding group for Daniel Rattle/Point Revenge on the Labrador coast - Daniel Rattle also shows Middlesex connections. Beothuk or a related language may have been the form of Eastern Algonquian spoken. The third entry was the spread of Ojibway north around the east end of Lake Superior, in the form of Blackduck, occurring after A.D. 700. More southerly boreal forest groups switched language to Ojibway and more northerly ones spread west and east. In the Quebec peninsula East Cree/Naskapi dialects of Cree seem to arrive at Caniapiscau about A.D. 1200.