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Innu Cosmogony

Innu culture stems from the certainty that Man is part of the universe, just like all other living species. In traditional cultures, these include trees, rocks, insects, the wind, and many other species. This well-structured universe is symbolized by a cross-section of a tree with its countless striates, each representing a “world”: human, animal, vegetable, mineral, wind, etc. All are passed down from grandfather to grandson through legends: “Carcajou”, “Mesh”, “The Summer Birds” and many others. At the heart of these legends is the foundation narrative of Tshakapesh, a hero who teaches us about the “dream world”, and is the only person who can access all these other “worlds”.


  • Association, Affiliation
    2:38 min - “The man who sits on the floor of his tipi to meditate on life and its meaning has accepted a ...
    Symbolic representation of the universe as a cross-section of a tree with its countless striations
  • Papakassiku, the Master of the Caribou
    4:34 min - Traditionally, all Innu people venerated the caribou. It’s an Innu animal. It had a powerful god called Papakassiku ...
    A caribou swims across a lake
  • Respect for Dreams and the Drum
    6:42 min - “The Innu had great respect for the drum and for dreams. That’s where their survival came from. That’s ...
    Jean-Baptiste Bellefleur plays the traditional drum in a natural setting
  • Shaking Tent
    6:21 min - The shaking tent is a place of energy where it is possible to encounter entities from the other worlds and ...
    Objects from a medicine bag


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