Tipatshimuna 
Description:
This diorama presents models of three Innu dwellings: shaputuan (left), natuakaikanitshuap (centre), and tashtuaikanitshuap (right).
Innu Narrative:
“We never had innutshuap in the past, but the only time we did, we used rags [to cover it].” Uniam Katshinak
Innu names for canvas tents (according to Shimun and Manian (Ashini) Michel):
– shaputuan – a canvas tent with both ends (two doors)
– uishkatshanitshuap – a canvas tent named after a blue jay
– tashtuaikanitshuap/ kaumiukunanitshuap – a tipi
“Shaputuan – this tent with two doors on each end was used for gatherings. Also, there would be 4 or 5 families too, sharing this tent. It was big. The last time I was in one of these tents was when we waited for break up in the country. This was in Minaiku [Menihek Lakes], in the Esker area. Also, it was used for makushan in the spring and in the winter or fall, a caribou makushan was held in this kind of tent. There would be drum dancing in the night. I was a young boy when I was there.” Shimun Michel
Other Info:
MacKenzie lists innu-mitshuap as “Indian dwelling; tent.”
MacKenzie lists canvas tent named after blue jay: uishkatshanitshuap as “flat-topped tent.”
MacKenzie lists tashtuaikanitshuap as “teepee; conical tent.”
In the post-contact period, Innu have erected several types of tents as dwellings and for ritual and curative purposes. These include kushapatshikan (shaking tent), matishan (steam tent), patshuianitshuap (canvas, prospector tent), shaputuan (tent with two entrances), tashtuaikanitshuap (tepee, conical tent), natuakaikanitshuap (bell-tent, round tent), and uishkatshanitshuap (flat-topped tent). Today, the patshuianitshuap is used predominately by Labrador and Quebec Innu as a dwelling, although the shaputuan and uishkatshanitshuap are also used on rare occasions. The tashtuaikanitshuap (tepee, conical tent), with its central hearth, was replaced by the patshuianitshuap after WWII. Numerous cobblestone and raised earthen tent rings can be found in many places throughout the northern Innu territory, which point to the frequent use of the earlier structure.
Nutshimiu-atusseun presents diagrams of six types of dwelling structures: nipin-shaputuan (summer, two door tent); matishanitshuap; patshuianitshuap; tashtuaikanitshuap; pipun-shaputuan (winter, two door tent); and natuakaikanitshuap (bell-tent, round tent).
Alika Podolinsky Webber mentions in her fieldnotes that she obtained model tents of various kinds from Innu in the Davis Inlet area (10 March 1961).
Here is what Lucien Turner had to say about the teepee based on his observations at Fort Chimo from 1882 to 1884. “The Nenenot live, both in summer and in winter, in deerskin tent…which are constructed in the following manner: A sufficient number of small poles cut from the woods are deprived of their branches and brought to the camp site. A location is selected and the poles are erected in a circle, with tops leaning toward the center so as to form a cone 10 to 14 feet in height, having a diameter at its base of from 10 to 18 feet. The skins forming the cover are those of the reindeer, and those selected for this purpose are usually of an inferior grade. A sufficient number are sewed together to form a strip long enough to reach around the poles when set up. As the tents differ in size according to the number of people who occupy them, the skins sewed together may be from eight to twelve. The first strip is made for the lower part of the poles and is attached to them by means of strings fastened within. A second strip is made to go around the upper part of the poles, and is, of course, correspondingly shorter. It is placed last so as to overlap the lower breadth and thus prevent rain and snow from blowing in. The door is usually made of one large skin or two smaller ones. It is tied to the poles at the upper corners and at the lower has a small log of wood as a weight to prevent it from flapping. The poles at the apex are not covered and through them the smoke from the fire built in the center within ascends and finds exit. The interior of the tent is arranged to suit the occupants. The floor is usually covered with the branches of young spruce, and when carefully laid these form an admirable protection from the cold ground and a soft carpeting.” Turner (1979[1894]:134-135)
The Field Museum of Natural History collection “contains a crudely shaped model tent of wood that resembles the form illustrated by Turner. The entrance and tops of the poles are darkened with indelible pencil… This model, or toy, may have been made by a child. Much more commonly in use at the time of Strong’s fieldwork was a variant of the ridgepole lodge, the construction of which he described in his diaries and field notes.” VanStone (1985:9-10). VanStone summarizes Strong’s description of the lodge erected by Joe and Akat Rich. According to VanStone, “Strong’s informants told him that bark-covered dwellings were once constructed by the Davis Inlet band” (1985:11).