Covenant with Papakassiku
2:54 min. - The foundations of respect for Papakassiku are based on the universal notion: “whatever you do to someone else will come back to you one way or another”.
Transcription
Louis Basile - All Innu venerated the caribou. It's an Innu animal. It had a powerful god called Papakassik, the master of all animals. No one knows what this master of the caribou looks like, no one understands him, not even the shaman. There is, however, an interpreter in the shaking tent that understands Papakassik: an interpreter of the dream world.
Papakassik is the same whether you're in Schefferville, La Romaine, St-Augustin, Natashquan or Tshishe-shetshit. The White equivalent is Jesus.
Out of respect for Papakassik, we use the entire caribou. The meat is used for food, the bones for fat and tools, and the skin for clothing. On the other hand, if, out of negligence, this rule is not respected, for example by burning the skin, something negative is bound to happen.
The foundation of respect for Papakassik is based on the universal principle: "What you do to others will come back to you one way or another".
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Covenant with Papakassiku
2:54 min
- akutakanu eshkanat
- we hang the antlers on a tree
- amipushu
- quiet water surface
- anasseu
- she makes a floor of fir branches
- atuaitsheu
- he shows something
- kapeu-kuashkutu atiku
- the caribou comes out of the water
- kashkuanapan
- misty morning
- kuashkutipeu atiku
- the caribou jumps into the water
- mamitsheshkaneu
- the caribou has big antlers
- mannateikanashku
- tree where the caribou rubbed its antlers
- massekuashkueiau
- swamp bordered by trees
- nekakatamu ukatshishapishteshim
- he puts sand in his frying pan
- nutapuenanu
- skim the bone broth
- pashkaipu
- even out the ground for the tent
- passikan
- rifle
- pimipitshuat
- they move around, pulling a toboggan
- pimishkau atiku
- the caribou is swimming
- pimuteshapan atiku
- a caribou has been here
- puitakaishkaitsheu
- he splits wood chips with an axe
- pushtashameu
- he puts on his snowshoes
- shakassineu pishimu
- the moon is full
- tashkaimiteu
- split wood
- tshitapuat
- they look at something
- utinikan-atiku
- caribou’s shoulder blade
- utitikumeu
- caribou’s tracks
- Fall
- Fall
- Fall
- Winter
- Spring
- Spring
- Spring
- Summer
- Summer
- Summer
- Summer
- Fall
- Fall
Nametau innu: Memory and knowledge of Nitassinan, a website dedicated to the Innu nation in which elders pass on their skills and knowledge to younger generations.
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