Tipatshimuna Stories from Youth
Read stories written by Sheshatshiu Innu youth in 2005 about their experiences in nutshimit, their culture and history, and what it meant to them to be Innu.
Story 1
A Helicopter to the Rescue
This day back two or three summers ago was the most scary day of my life. The day started out just like any other wonderful day in the country. Woke up, dad picking at the fire trying to get it going, blowing long and steady. Mom was just getting up and putting her clothes on.
We had to put on and change our clothes under three layers of thick blankets that I thought weighed a ton. Me and my brothers and some cousins all huddled together. Dad was always up first, then my mom, then me and the rest.
After my dad got the fire on the go, my mom was soon frying some eggs on the stove.
After everyone was up, we had to put the blankets that weighed a ton up on a sort of a rack, or shelf made between four trees, with logs connecting the four outside trees together, and more logs lying on the logs that connected the outside trees. Anyways, when that was done, mom was just about finished cooking breakfast. We all went in to eat. I really thought this was magic. When I saw my cousin throw a piece of bread on the side of the stove and stick. I looked over at him and said “Nahhh, taitnumen en” (meaning, “Wow, how did you do that?”). He said, “Magic.” Then I tried to get the bread to stick on the stove too.
Breakfast was done now. All the kids were lying down on the floor thinking what to do. My brother and I were playing with our nephews who also came with us on this camping trip. One of my nephews has asthma and eczema, the other one is healthy as anyone could possibly be, and hyper as anyone could be.
I was playing with the one with eczema and asthma. I was playing rough and quick, and suddenly mom says, “stop!” with a firm voice. “You’re playing too rough. Go outside and find something to do.” I went outside, but before I reached the door, I said to my cousins with a cheerful voice, “let’s go and make a swing on a tree out the back. Once the oldest said okay, they all went, so we spent a good half an hour trying to find the perfect tree.
Making the swing was easy. Once finished the swing, we had three ropes around it so three people could go at once, and the tree was on a hill, so when you swung out, you were about 11-15 feet off the ground, and when on the side, you were level. When you swung, you could spin three times forward at once, or three times backwards if you were good.
We used to have contests to find out who could spin the most, and get the highest off the ground. We spent three hours at a time on those swings. Swinging, laughing, and having an extraordinary time. Those swings are just one of the many highlights in the country.
After we were all beat out, and hungry, we went to our tent, because the only way to get us off those swings was if we were hungry. Meanwhile, my nephews were playing out in front where the water, sand, rocks and bushes were. Before I even got a bite of my supper, my mom told me to go get my nephews from out front. I said, “Awwwww, why can’t you do it?” She said, “Do as you’re told.” So I went out and got my two nephews.
The younger of the two was just sitting there looking real bored and sad. The other one with excema was playing with his trucks, in the sand, talking to himself, saying “Burrmmm, burrmmm.” I didn’t think anything of the other one. I took them both back to the tent. I had to carry the younger one because he looked really tired. After I got back and started eating, and when you’re eating, you have to lie down almost on your stomach because there are no chairs in a tent.
After I finished, I went outside, asked my cousin if he could teach me guitar. He said “sure.” Me and him sat outside on a pick-nik table that we had out there. We played or, should I say, he played for about a half an hour, singing to me and the birds, and the trees. When I went back to the tent, mom looked worried. I looked around. Everyone in the tent looked worried. I was just about to ask what’s going on when the radio talked and said, “What are his symptoms?” My mom replied, “He looks weak and very tired.” One of my cousins filled me in on what was going on because he was in the tent when this was going on.
He said your nephew is really sick. He has a dangerously high temperature and is terribly weak, and he also said my mom was on the radio with the doctor. The doctor informed my mom that a medivac team was going to be sent to get my poor youngest nephew out of here.
As we waited impatiently, I sat down in the corner of the tent thinking of what the outcome would be. As each minute passed, the time brought fear and hope. I was out on the pick-nik table when I heard the rotor of the helicopter on the horizon of the gentle rolling mountains that surrounded us, like students surrounding a fight at school. As the helicopter approached the campsite, it circled us like the earth circles the sun. The helicopter hovered about 10 feet above the tree tops, when suddenly three men, just threw themselves out of the hovering helicopter like there was no tomorrow. The presence of the men heightened the tension of the moment because this is when it hit me that this was really reality. The men ran to the camp with their enormous backpacks and infrared goggles. The helicopter landed out back where we used to play baseball.
The wind that the huge yellow helicopter made was so strong that you could stand at a 45 degree angle without falling down. In the morning we heard back from my aunt that went back with my nephew because my mom had to stay to look after the other one. My aunt said that my nephew was going to be alright. She also said that he swallowed a rock on the beach out front, and that’s what made him sick.
Story 2
So much fun in nutshimit
My life in nutshimit (the country) was fun. We did everything. I’ll tell you a little about my Innu life. It was fun. We went canoeing and picking berries and the boys would go hunting. The elders would teach the girls to make bread, and we would sew, like making stuff with beads, and pick boughs, and put them in the tent, and cook Innu food.
We would all eat together, and kids would play in the sand, and gather rocks, and throw them in the water. The girls would go for a walk, and if we saw a partridge, we would use a slingshot, and kill them. We would pluck the feathers and cook it, and eat it.
Sometimes kids would make swings, and the swings were so much fun. And sometimes, we went fishing, sometimes swimming, but not always, only when we felt like it. When we saw a porcupine we would hit him with a stick on the head because Innu don’t shoot porcupine, beaver or rabbit, because they wouldn’t be good, and they would smell.
We went to sleep early, like maybe around 7:00 pm, because if we don’t sleep, we’ll see Katshimitsheshut. That is some kind of ghost. The elders say it throws rocks at tents when kids are loud and they don’t listen.
Then my mom’s brother would come and take the boys out hunting, and us girls would be left behind to clean, cook, get some water from the river, and make a fire, and burn marshmallows, and hotdogs. Then we would sit around a fire and talk. When the boys would come back, we would play baseball or soccer, and the parents and Elders would rest by going to sleep for a while because they just came from hunting.
When it’s winter, we would go sliding and play in the snow with my little brother and sisters. Then we would go for a drive to visit other Innu, and go to their tents, and have some tea. The Elders would talk and talk for about 2 hours, and we would go home. My dad would make a fire, and we would play cards or board-games, and have a nice family moment. We would laugh, and have a nice family time, and we would all go to sleep.
This is my story as an Innu girl.
Story 3
Hunting, visiting, stargazing and a porcupine
My life in the country was wonderful and exciting, also peaceful. First thing my dad would do would be to get up and start a fire, and he would eat and wake up my brothers and eat, and then go hunting for porcupine and partridges.
Me and my cousins would stay back and clean up, and make the beds. Then we would go fishing. We would also try to make a swing around a tree. We would walk around in the woods, then we would go to my aunt’s cabin and visit my aunt. Then my uncle would ask my dad to go hunting for geese. Then the girls would be left behind to clean and cook before they got back.
Also, we would go to a river to get some water, and we would take a .22 rifle just in case we saw a partridge. We would go to bed early because we all got up early, and we would hear loons by the lake, and look at, and listen to, them because it sounded so peaceful.
Afterwards, we would help cook some Innu food like rabbit, partridges, beaver and caribou, and help make Innu bread. The break tastes really good with the gravy. After we were done eating, we would stand outside and listen to the animals, and lie down on the ground, and look at the stars. One can see them up very well because in the country, there are no lights.
When we saw a porcupine, we would get a stick and hit it on the head, or choke it. We would shoot it only if it climbed up a tall tree. If we got it, my aunt would start a fire and then put the porcupine on the fire so the hairs on the porcupine would burn. Then she would take a knife and skin the porcupine, then cut it and put a stick around the stomach, and you would have to blow it, and then cook it.
We would usually stay for a month, then go back home.
Story 4
Love, peace and full stomachs
I remember when we went camping with both of my grandparents including my parents. Me and my mother, including my grandmother, went berry picking while my father and my grandfathers went hunting for spruce partridges.
My grandmother told me that the partridge berries have to be respected because the reason they are red is because when Jesus was put on the cross, his blood fell from the sky, and on to the ground. That’s why partridge berries are red.
After me and my grandmother were finished, me and mom went for a walk in the woods. We saw rabbit paths, and my mom set up a rabbit snare. And the next day, we went to check on the snare, and there was a rabbit there, and it was still alive! So my mother twisted the rabbit’s neck.
On our way back to the tent, we saw two geese fly by. My dad came back with 26 spruce partridges, and my grandmother started taking the feathers out, and I helped her. After we were done, she cooked them. She used rolled oats and margarine, and when it was done, we used bannock.
That’s how our day ended. It ended with love, peace and full stomachs.
When I was around eight years old, my grandparents took care of me. We would go in the country twice a year – spring and fall. While we were in the country, my grandfather would go hunting with my cousins. My cousins were around 14 years old. My grandfather would teach them to hunt and trap.
While my grandma and I were home, we would clean first. Wash the dishes and tidy up in the tent. When we finished, we would go fishing, sometimes for fun. My grandma would teach me how to clean the fish we caught. She would probably clean two fish, then she would give me the last one for me to clean. So when I caught fish next time, she wouldn’t help me. She would just look at me clean the fish, and when I did something wrong, all she would say is, “No, no, no.” So I stopped what I was doing and tried to remember when she was cleaning the fish. After I did everything right, my grandma, Elizabeth Penashue, would cook the fish for the boys, and while one was cooking, she even taught me how to cook. Giving me little hints what to do and not to do.
Then my grandpa came with my cousins. They sometimes brought beaver or porcupine and whatever they brought, my kukum would clean it right away. While they were eating, my grandma would clean the animals, and when the boys finished eating, my grandma would probably be done with the animal. Right after that, she would wash the dishes, and my grandma would tidy up again.
My grandfather, Francis Penashue, and his grandsons (my cousins) would go hunting again. And my kukum would be really tired. So she would take a nap. I could never fall asleep, so there was a swing that I would always go to when I was bored.
Then when the boys came, and my grandma got up, we would all be in the tent resting, like playing card games, and just having fun together.
Story 5
Nutshimit teachings
When I go to the country, I sometimes stay in our tent with my mom. She sometimes cooks me goose or caribou. When I go with my dad, he sometimes allows me to shoot caribou or partridge.
I used to go with my grandfather in the woods, and he told me how to respect animals. He also taught me how to aim and shoot an animal. My grandfather can’t go to the country now because he can’t walk. My grandmother taught me how to set up a tent, and to make spears for the tent. My grandmother also goes fishing with me. My grandfather also teachers me how to clean a caribou, while my father teaches me how to kill a porcupine. He told me that it may bite you, because he got bitten once by a porcupine.
Sometimes, me and my family walked in the woods to go hunting, fishing, or looking for porcupine. Sometimes my family left in the truck. When I was sleeping, my grandfather was in a coma for one month, then he awoke. He couldn’t walk. We went to the country for one month. I had a stomach flu once, and we couldn’t go hunting, because I always slept and laid down.
I still love caribou and geese. Many people now don’t care about that culture. Don’t want to go to the country any more, because of my grandfather’s ill health, TV, computer, and video games.
I learned how to snare a rabbit when I was five or six. We used to control our own lives, but now the government controls our lives. The Labrador School Board teaches us in White man’s ways. My grandfather still really cares about our culture.
Story 6
My grandfather’s story of the evil shaman
My grandpa told me this story. It was about the evil shaman and his son. Both of them went hunting for eggs at Peak Mountain. The father went in the canoe and the son did too. The mother stayed home cooking geese for them and herself. Each time the boy almost got there, the father kept blowing the island further away, and the son said “It’s getting far.” But he kept paddling until he got there.
The son got out of the canoe and on the island, as the father was coming to the son, and thinking of an evil plan. The father said, “I saw eggs over the hill.” The son said, “Right there?” The father said, “No, go further over the hill.” So the son went over the hill on the other side. When the father saw he was gone, he got ready to go in the canoe, and he paddled on back home.
So the son went to see if the canoe was there. But it was gone. He was so mad at his father, that he kneeled and said, “God, help me please.” He said, “I’m stranded on this island.” After five minutes, he saw the northern lights, and saw a respected caribou. So he sat on the caribou to travel over the lake and get back home.
When he got off the island, he thanked Jesus and the caribou by feeding him with berries. So, he went in the woods looking for his home, but when he saw fresh berries, he followed the berry path, and at the end of the berry path, were two witches in a tent. They knew he was coming, so he went close to the tent. The witches had sharp elbows like knives. So, the son took off his shirt, and put it into the tent, and the witches stabbed the shirt so many times they were stabbing themselves, and didn’t notice it. So the son looked at them. They both died on the floor.
The son went looking for the tent. Instead he found his mother looking for berries. The mother went to him and hugged him. The mother said, “Are you okay?” The son say, “Yes, I’m alright. But father left me at the island.” So, the mother went back to the tent, and talked to the father, and said, “Our son is back.” The father said, “Oh, really, where is he?” The mother said, “Gone out to get some berries.” So, the father hid a knife in his back pocket and said, “I’ll be right back.”
The father went out of the tent and saw his son. The son had a witch’s knife. He said, “Go and get it.” The son took his mother’s hand and drew a circle. He said “You’re going to be okay in the circle.” So, the father went to try to kill his son, but the son had some help from the caribou. The caribou went to hit him. So the son went and took the knife from him, and stabbed him in his heart, so the two were left alone.
The son was happy. The father’s dust went into the lake. So they would remember him. The son always prayed for his mother for not being ill. The end.
Story 7
Getting set up in nutshimit
My story is about my experience in nutshimit with my grandpa, grandma and my family camping up Grand Lake Road. When we got there, everybody got out of the truck, woke up and stretched. My grandpa and father set up the tent, and me and my sisters and grandma and mother went to pick some boughs.
My brother decided to take a nap in the truck for a long period of time. When we were finished fetching boughs, we came back and put them in the tent. My grandma and my mom wove them together to make the floor of the tent. After they finished, we went back to the truck to get the stove, bowls, spoons, some mattresses and a carpet.
My grandma always used to have a bed with her when she went camping. So by 4:00, me and my sisters would get some water at the lake. The lake was so beautiful. We had to go down the hill to get the water. My sisters played with the sand after we were finished. I would get help carrying the water back to the tent.
When me and my sisters got back to the tent, we saw a mouse. My grandma thanked us for the water. She always boiled the water.
Story 8
People were healthy in nutshimit
The country is a remarkable place to go, if there is no health problem. People stayed four months of the year. Men would go hunting. They would be gone four or five days, checking their traps for furbearing animals. Women would stay behind to do the housework. They would take over men’s jobs for a few days when the men were gone, like getting firewood to keep their children warm.
The women even hunted. They would hunt partridges and porcupines. They snared rabbits and caught fish. Women would get boughs for the tent floors. They would place the boughs in layers in the wintertime, and in summer, they had to change them when they were all dried up. A woman had to make clothing for her husband and children. She used dry caribou skin, and she even made slippers, but this was only in the summertime.
In the winter she’d use sealskin to make mittens and boots. Men would make sleds and women would help with netting the snowshoes. Men even delivered babies when they were in the country. Elders used dry bark to prevent a diaper rash.
People say that they always went canoeing when they went hunting. Elders made their canoes. Now there are hardly any Elders in the community who make canoes, or a person who knows everything in the country.
My grandfather says that there was no beer back then. People were healthy. They didn’t have diabetes and arthritis. The Elders made medicine from tree sap for cuts and wounds. Ever since everything got invented, people don’t go to the country. They have gotten used to the electronics from using them all the time. And now people don’t teach their children what they need to do in the country!
Story 9
A baby is born
Back in the old days, the Innu people lived their way of life. The Elders would teach their children and grandchildren their culture, how to hunt and how to raise their own children. Sometimes the children would help their parents and grandparents. The Elders would teach the children how to respect the caribou, partridge, porcupine, and the caribou bones. And sometimes, the Innu people would teach their children how to make bannock.
My mom once told me a story about her mother being pregnant. They were in the country for a whole year back in 1978. She said there were about five families including her family. She said her mother went into premature labour when she was seven months pregnant. She was due in March, but she was two months early. My mom was about seven years old. She said she doesn’t quite remember everything that day, but she remembers her uncle Sam and his wife Frances doing everything they could to help out. They tried to reach the nurse by talking on the C.B. radio, but they couldn’t reach anyone. It was a couple of hours later when they finally reached the nurse. She told them that the chopper would be there in an hour with a doctor.
When my mom and the others went back to the tent with Frances, they noticed the sky was a little dark and it starting to snow. After about a half hour, the snow was getting a little thicker and the wind started to blow. Everyone began to worry.
Hours went by as they waited for the chopper to arrive. Everyone knew that her mother was getting worse, that she was going to have the baby with or without the doctor. My mom’s grandmother had been in that kind of situation before and had delivered babies in the past. When her grandmother came into the tent, she asked if she could have a moment with my mom’s mother, so she could examine her.
A few minutes later, she said that there was no time, and that she could feel the baby’s head. When she was finished dilating, that’s when the mother prepared to deliver the baby herself with a little help from the others who were in the tent. My mother’s father was asked to get wood to keep the tent nice and warm, and the others were asked to get clean towels and also blankets to wrap the baby after its birth. The children were asked to go outside and wait for the arrival.
My mom said they waited for a few minutes, and then they heard the baby cry. My mom’s father said they could come in the tent then to meet their new baby brother, Paul. About 20 minutes later, the chopper landed. The doctor came out of the plane and ran into the tent to see if everything was okay.
The doctor announced that the baby couldn’t be better, but he would have to go to the hospital back in Goose Bay. The baby was too tiny because he was born two months early. But the good news was that the baby was perfectly fine. Anyway, the mother and the baby were taken to the hospital on the chopper, and they came back about two weeks later.
Everyone was very happy that everything worked out perfectly with the delivery, and that the mother and the baby were doing fine. By the time they went back home, the baby was crawling and moving around a lot.
Well, that’s my story. The mother was my grandmother, and the baby is my uncle. The father was my grandfather, but I never got to meet him. He passed away when I was a baby, and my grandmother passed away about four years ago. My uncle Paul is doing fine, but he’s so annoying sometimes.
My other grandparents started taking me to the country when I was a little baby, but they stopped going when I was about 10 years old. I don’t know why.
They would teach me stuff, like the time my grandmother taught me how to make bannock. I had a lot of fun. And the time when me and my dad would go on the boat with my uncle Courtland, and hunt for geese. We sometimes walked around in the woods with my grandfather and his dog. I miss those days!