The Atikamekw are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their historic territory, Nitaskinan ('Our Land'), is in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley of Quebec (about 300 kilometres (190 mi) north of Montreal). One of the main communities is Manawan, about 160 kilometres (99 mi) northeast of Montreal.

Their current population is around 8,000. They have a tradition of agriculture as well as fishing, hunting, and gathering. They maintain close ties with the Innu people, who were their historical allies against the Inuit.

The Atikamekw language, likely a variety of Cree in the Algonquian family, is closely related to that of the Innu. It is still in everyday use, being among the Indigenous languages least threatened with extinction. Their traditional ways of life are endangered, however, as their homeland has largely been taken over by logging companies. Their name, which literally means 'lake whitefish', is sometimes also spelt Atihkamekw, Attikamekw, Attikamek, or Atikamek. The French colonists referred to them as Têtes-de-Boules, meaning 'Ball-Heads' or 'Round-Heads'.

Some Atihkamekw families make their living making traditional birchbark baskets and canoes.

Early French historical documents begin to mention the Atikamekw at beginning of the 17th century, when they lived in the boreal forest of the upper Mauricie. In these early documents, the French colonists recorded the Atikamekw as "Atikamegouékhi", an effort to transliterate their name for themselves. The Atikamekw were described as a group of 500 to 600 people, who made up "one of the nations more considerable of the north".

For food, they fished, hunted, and trapped. They supplemented their diet with agricultural products made and processed by women, such as corn and maple syrup. The latter was boiled to reduce as a syrup after sap was tapped from maple trees. Both men and women made tools from wood and animal parts, such as bone and tendon. The women made clothing from tanned animal hides. Tribal members traded with other native peoples in nearby areas, but trading networks connected along long distances. In summer, the Atikamekw would gather at places like Wemotaci. In the fall, they would pack for the winter season and disperse into smaller encampments through the boreal forest.

After the French entered the trading network, they introduced new, European manufactured goods, such as metal tools. The Atikamekw traded furs for such goods, becoming increasingly dependent on European goods in the fur trade. They were described as a peaceful people, sharing the region with the Innu (Montagnais) in the east, the Cree in the north, and Algonquin to the south. The Mohawk of the Iroquois Confederacy, whose five nations were based south of the Great Lakes, competed with them for the lucrative beaver trade and over hunting grounds. Through their Innu allies, the Atikamekw caught new infectious diseases that were endemic among the Europeans. Around 1670-1680, a smallpox epidemic devastated the Atikamekw tribe.

The French pulled the Atikamekw into a trade war between the Montagnais (Innu) and the Mohawk, in which the Atikamekw and Innu did not fare well. Many of the Atikamekw who had survived the smallpox were killed by the more powerful Mohawk.