Elders' Biographies
Uniam Katshinak
The son of Uniam Katshinak (Sr) and Aniss, Uniam was born at Emish (Voisey's Bay) in 1935. He is a well-known story-teller in his community, and has been called upon to provide traditional expertise on numerous occasions with respect to the Tshikapishk Foundation activities at Kameshtashtan (Mistastin Lake), land rights negotiations, etc.
"I have 3 sisters and 2 brothers. I lived off the land for many years. I hunted, trapped and traded furs to the Hudson's Bay Company in the past."
"My wife, Pinamen, and I didn't have any of our own children but we raised six children belonging to our relatives."
In the old days, "we would go hungry if we didn't make things for our survival. We fished, and we lived off the fish, and caribou, and bear. We lived on wild meats. We didn't have any store-bought food. When we went to Emish for supplies, we would go back to Mushuau-shipu (George River) even when we didn't get anything from the store. We would go back empty-handed. When fish were caught, then we would eat the fish, and when caribou were killed, we would eat that. This would be in the spring only."
"I still make snowshoes and clean caribou hides. My wife and I mostly do things together when we work on snowshoes and hides. I taught nutshimiu-atusseun (country life skills) to young adults. This is very important work."
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