Tipatshimuna 
Description:
“I used to make what we call katakuashtunanit [canoes made without nails]. It wasn’t perfectly made. We didn’t exactly know how to make one. But there’s another type of canoe that I used to make. It’s the one made with nails. Back on Mushuau-shipu [George River], people were always making these [katakuashtunanit]. I’ve seen people make them around Mushuau-shipu, and afterwards, they traveled to the coast, to Voisey’s Bay to see Mr. [Richard] White. Mr. White used to live around there. Everybody went there. And there was no Davis Inlet [village] back then. Also, the Innu used to come to the coast to see Father O’Brien using this type of canoe [katakuashtunanit]. First they would travel to Voisey’s Bay, and then later to what was then Davis Inlet. This was right after the canoes were finished. These were quite hard to make, but today, we call them mashtukuta [canvas covered canoes] , the kind you see around today. The ones they use to make with nails. We used to be very poor when we lived at Mushuau-shipu. I was quite small back then when these canoes were made.” Pinashue Benuen
“When Joseph was not around when we lived in the country, I had to portage the canoe when we moved our camps. None of the women at our camp could portage a canoe. When the men were not around, I had to portage the canoe. One time, I had to portage two canoes. The women couldn’t lift those canoes. I could lift those canoes no problem. It was at Shapiass. The lake is called Shapiau [Shapio Lake] and it had mountains. It had a lot of lakes. I portaged those canoes through the barrens. I didn’t portage through the bushes. When we got to the mountains, I had to portage those canoes because the men had to go caribou hunting. We moved our camp. One time I portaged a canoe very far. It was at the mountain. We had to go to the mountain to get to the lake. I was walking with my father and mother (my aunt and uncle). That was your grandfather, the late Shushepish. My real father was not around back then. He died. We left for the country. I portaged a canoe again. We left from Sheshatshit. I had to portage by myself. The men were not around again. I did another portage all by myself. It was very heavy. I portaged it. I carried it at the back of my neck. Did you ever notice how people carried the canoes? That’s how I carried it. Pinamen [her sister] and the late Manish Tshakapesh couldn’t portage a canoe. They only lifted their canoes and carried them. I portaged my canoe. I tried nuipiuten too. The people that camped with us didn’t want me to do it. [MacKenzie lists piutamu as “she/he shoots the rapids, canoes in white water].” Matinen (Rich) Katshinak.
“Shushep (Joseph Katshinak). I saw him build a canoe. Matinen (Matinen (Rich) Katshinak) was always helping out when the canoes were built. When no one was around to help out, she would nail the wood on the canoe. The wood was already cut for the canoe and she just nailed the wood. She was asked to work away on the canoe and many times she would almost finish the canoe all by herself. She watched Shushep (Joseph Katshinak) build a canoe and that’s why she knows how to do it and work on the canoe. In the country, I saw a canoe built by my uncle Shushepish (Joseph Rich). He built katakuashtunanit – a canoe without nails. The nails are not used on this canoe. Uatshinaut [ribs] are just put together. This one I saw my uncle build. Across Kashushushekat. That’s were he built the canoe.” Pinamen (Rich) Katshinak
“Usually the men control the steering, and they paddle in the back. This is called takuaikan or takuaitsheu (he is steering). He makes sure that the canoe doesn’t tip over. Also he turns away from the rock when he sees it. Then, there would be someone who paddles in the front. He/she looks out for rocks ahead of them. This is called kanishtamitakutshet. The child is put in the middle and paddles along with the adults. He/she is learning how to paddle by watching and it is how you teach a child to paddle. Different strokes are made when the currents turn swiftly….”
References:
Armitage, Peter. 2002. Diary notes, August to October 2002 re. canoe-making by Pien Penashue, Lizette Penashue, Melvin Penashue and Alistair Pone, Sheshatshiu, Labrador. Copy provided to the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, Newfoundland. David Gidmark. 2002. Building a Birchbark Canoe: the Algonquin Wabanaki Tciman Willowdale, Ontario: Firefly Books. Edwin Tappan Adney and Howard I. Chapelle. 1964. The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. George S Fichter. 1977. How to Build an Indian Canoe. New York: David McKay Company, Inc. Lucien M. Turner. 1979[1894]. Indians and Eskimos in the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula. Quebec: Presses COMEDITEX.
Other Info:
For more Innu stories, images and information on the canoe, visit the exhibits section of this website.
A great deal has been written about the canoes made by the First Nations of Canada, including the various styles made, their functionality, and method of manufacture (e.g. Adney and Chapelle, 1964; Fichter, 1977; Gidmark, 2002). Documentary films have been also been made about making birch bark canoes (e.g. César’s Bark Canoe, NFB, 1971). The reader is referred to these sources for more detailed information.
The canoe in the collection of the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador was made by Pien Penashue and his apprentices, Melvin Penashue, and Alistair Pone, between August and October 2002. The method of manufacture of this canoe resembles European boat-building techniques in that the ribs are laid out along a temporary spine or keel, whereupon the planking is nailed to the outside. This type of canoe is called “katshishtashkuatet” (that which is made with nails). It was one of three types of canoes made by Labrador Innu since the late 1800s. The “katakuashtunanit” (no nail) type was the truly traditional canoe that could be made without any nails. Innu once covered this canoe with birch bark, but bark was abandoned in favour of canvas once this sturdier material became readily available through the Hudson’s Bay Company and other traders. The katakuashtunanit is still made by Innu from the Quebec Lower North Shore (e.g. La Romaine, 2005). The methods of manufacture of the birch bark and canvas covered variants are virtually identical in that the covering of the canoe is assembled first, and the ribs and planking/sheathing inserted into this basket-like shell afterwards.
The other type of canoe made by Labrador Innu was the “shipaitakan-ush” (canoe mold) where the ribs and planks are assembled over a wooden, prefabricated, wooden mold or form. Pien Penashue learned this technique from the late Michel Pasteen, who in turn learned it from Johnny Groves, a Settler, trapper, and independent trader who lived at Groves Point near Goose Bay. The shipaitakan-ush method, although adopted late by the Sheshatshiu Innu, had two major advantages over other canoe-making techniques – it was quick to make, and required only one to two people for its fabrication. Moreover, the form could be used repeatedly to make any number of canoes.
“All the Indians of this region use birch-bark canoes..The canoe of each individual differs from others according to the personal taste or need of the maker. The requirements are that the canoe shall be able to transport himself and family, together with the household property, whenever it is desired to change camps. Some of the canoes are small, others large, often possessed by two or more individuals in common… Many persons have not the skill needed to construct a canoe, and they employ those who have had experience and are known to build an excellent boat… There are two kinds of canoes in use among those Indians, differing only in the shape of the stern and prow. The original form was nearly flat along the rails and had the bow and stern but little turned up [little rocker]. Of later years intercourse with some of their neighbors has induced them to modify the nearly straight edge canoe into an intermediate shape between their own and that of the East Main Indians, whose canoes are very much turned up… As the forests in the vicinity of Fort Chimo do not contain birch trees, and none are found until the headwaters of the Koksoak are reached, where they are too small to afford bark of sufficient size and thickness, the Indians are compelled to procure the bark from the traders, who import it from the St. Lawrence river and gulf stations to Fort Chimo… Without the birch-bark canoe the Indian would have difficulty in obtaining his living, as it is even more necessary than the sled, and nearly as useful as the snowshoe.” Turner (1979[1894]:140-143)