Mushuau boys walk 100 km to reconnect with traditional nomadic Innu life
Organizer Aldea Piwas hopes it teaches them pride in being Innu and what they can do
After walking for nine days over steep mountains and through thick marshes, eight boys are resting at home in Natuashish after a traditional walk.
"I was a little bit tired and my legs were sore," said 13-year-old Quinton Andrew, who went on the walk. "It was fun."
Organizer Aldea Piwas arranged for a float plane to take the group and six adults to Barren Lake in northern Labrador.
She said the walk went along a 65-kilometre flight path but the route is more like 100 kilometres on foot.
"The land is so beautiful, so beautiful out there. Where our ancestors used to hunt, that's their hunting grounds where we walked," Piwas said.
"I want them to be proud that they're Innu, they're still following our ancestors."
The walk was supposed to take six days, but the group had to take extra rest during the day due to the extreme heat, Aldea said. They finished it in nine days.
Quinton said it was his first time hunting and he was able to shoot partridges for the group. He said he was also able to go swimming and even danced around the campfire.
"They teach me how to shoot, and go hunting and walk farther," Quinton said. "I might go every year."
Piwas was supported by a number of coworkers from her work at the Natuashish Healing Lodge.
One was Steven Wilton, originally from Cape Breton, has been working in Natuashish the past six months.
"When [Aldea] would tell me, 'You're coming on on the walk,' there was almost a bit of an evil laugh afterwards," Wilton said.
"[It] can be easy to avoid but I think it's very rewarding to do that, to sort of put yourself in challenging circumstances and to be learning a lot of new things."
Wilton said the boys were in better shape than he was and had a great and welcoming sense of humour.
They weren't fazed by setbacks, he said, and improvised when needed and approached challenges as they came.
"I hope that they see themselves as being very capable and flexible people to solve problems and to do it in a very tactful, generous way," Wilton said.
Piwas hopes to hold the walk again next year at a new location with more people taking part.
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