Winter Preparations

Kanikuen Gabriel - I was always eager for later in the season, the time of the wild geese, and especially, Christmas...
Narrator - Preparations had to be made for the Holidays; families were certain to have visitors. Actually, these reunions had been planned since the people separated at summer's end. So it was important to organize caches and accumulate provisions.
These caches were really simple to make. No nails, no roots!
Jean-Baptiste Bellefleur - We still need to put pieces of wood over it. To make the platform solid, you have to put moss between the legs and the apron. When the moss is frozen solid, the structure will be very strong.
I use this type of very dry wood. That way, mice won't be able to get a grip on it. You have to remember that the snow will probably be knee-high when we come back for the food in December.
Narrator - Knowing that we had to think of everything, we were careful to build the cache on an island, which kept it safe from animals that shy away from water, wolves for example. We also built a fire beside the cache, to mark our territory and signal our human presence to the animals.
Kanikuen Gabriel - I especially looked forward to going to collect the surprises from the caches, especially the sweets and candies.
The cache was on an island, a good distance from the camp. You had to wait till the ice formed on the lake to get to it.
Everything was there; flour, fat, sugar, meat and fish.
This reunion had been organized since fall, and all those who had agreed to meet started to arrive.
We had already set up the Shaputan and the visitors' tent.
Narrator - When many Innu got together and wished to stay in one place a while longer, they put up a Shaputan. This large construction was useful, especially when many caribou had been killed and had to be dismembered. The meat was dried inside, and cut into pieces to facilitate transportation.
Music - Rodrigue Fontaine, Bill St-Onge, Luc Bacon

Site Navigation

Winter Preparations

Transcription