Members of the band of Ekuanitshit are Innus. As of October 2019[update], the Nation had a total registered population of 677 members, of which 54 lived off reserve.[2] According to the 2016 Canadian Census, the median age of the population is 24.9 years old.[3]
Innus of Ekuanitshit are governed by a band council elected according to a custom electoral system based on Section 11 of the Indian Act. For the 2018 to 2021 tenure, this council is composed of the chief Jean-Charles Piétacho and four councillors.[7]
Languages
The language spoken by the Innus is Innu-aimun, a language of the Cree-Innu-Naskapi dialect continuum of the Algonquian languages family. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 95.4% of the Innus of Ekuanitshit have an Aboriginal language has the first language learned and 100% know an Aboriginal language and speak it at home. With respect to official languages, 6.4% know both, 88.1% know only French and 0% know only English.[8]