Audio


Pinashue Benuen

Transcript

I used to make what we call katakuashtunanit. 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 (George River), and afterwards, they traveled to the coast, to Voisey?s Bay, to see Mr. White (an independent trader). Mr. White used to live around there. Everybody went there. And there was no Davis Inlet back then. Also, the Innu used to come to the coast to see Father O?Brien (a Catholic missionary) 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 used to make with nails.