Tipatshimuna 
Description:
two bows made of wood and nylon cord strings
References:
Lucien M. Turner. 1979[1894]. Indians and Eskimos in the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula. Quebec: Presses COMEDITEX. James W. VanStone. 1985. Material Culture of the Davis Inlet and Barren Ground Naskapi: the William Duncan Strong Collection. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. Fieldiana, Anthropology New Series No.7.
Innu Narrative:
“Akushkᵘ, an arrow. They used arrows. They made arrowheads, and that’s what was used to hunt the caribou before rifles. Nobody would have had a gun…when the old hunters ran out of bullets, they used arrows.” Pinashue Benuen
“When the hunters left the camp, the women would use bows and arrows for hunting partridges [and rabbits]. This is before we had .22 rifles…The bow and arrows are used for children to shoot with. It is similar to the one women used for hunting.” Matinen (Rich) Katshinak
“Atshapi – bow and arrow used to kill rabbits and partridge. Before they had guns, they used this to kill caribou as well. When they were children, they saw bow and arrows being used to kill partridge and rabbits only. The wood was made out of uatshinakan (tamarack). The string could be made out of braided caribou hide. akashkᵘ – arrow. The ones with round heads were used for killing partridge or rabbits.” Shimun Michel
“Bow and arrows are really good for shooting them [partridges], almost as sharp as guns. There would be [many] of them killed. The elders were especially skilled with bow and arrows. I know how to use the bow and arrow and I killed many partridges with it… It works better with a feather. The feather directs the arrow to the target. This is the kind used to kill partridges, but not caribou… I have watched other elders make them. I never used it to shoot the caribou nor have I seen others use it. This would have to be shaped really well to be effective.” Tshishennish Pasteen
“Yes, you started shooting it [caribou in a corral] then with the bow and arrows. After the caribou was killed, you dragged it out without destroying the corral. You made a small exit to one side of the fence where you could take the caribou out. There was an entrance, then it gradually expanded into a circle.” Tshishennish Pasteen
“It would be very good if we could have the things back from a long time ago, so we could show them to the kids today. You know, things like shooting the spruce partridges, rabbits and porcupine. I followed a porcupine once for a long time. I finally found him up in a small tree. His eyes were closed so he must have been sleeping. I shot him with a bow and arrow and he fell off the tree. He was shaking very hard. I killed him. This arrow had a wooden spike at the end. But you had to put something slightly heavier at the end, like a nail or rock so it could travel further.” Tshishennish Pasteen
Other Info:
“In former times these Indians used the bow and arrow exclusively, but they have now nearly discarded these weapons for the guns which they procure from the traders. The bow and arrow is, however, still used to kill ptarmigan, hares, and rabbits. The bow…consists of a piece of larch [juniper, tamarack] or spruce wood of 4 to 6 feet in length. It is only slightly narrower and thinner at the ends, and nearly an inch thick and an inch and half wide at the central portions…they have considerable elasticity, and if broken it is easy to obtain a piece of wood from the forest and fashion another. The string is a strand of deerskin, twisted or rolled. It is rare to find a bow that has a single string. Turner (1979[1894]:148)
“The Strong collection contains eight full-sized bows, which vary in length from 154 cm to 176 cm and are approximately 2 cm thick at the grip. The staves were made with a crooked knife from singled pieces of dried juniper wood… According to Strong…the bowman used the Mediterranean release and wore a glove on his left hand, in which extra arrows were held parallel to the bow… Neither quivers nor bow cases were employed, and the weapon was unstrung when not in use.” VanStone (1985:11)