It is said that a society defines its world by giving names to the things within its world, Iyiyuuch are no different. Everywhere one goes there are names for a particular piece of land or water. As Iyiyuuschii came into being so too did the names.

The Quebec government has proposed the renaming of a 101 islands in the Caniapiscau reservoir in honour of 101 Quebecois writers on the anniversary of Bill 101.

Samuel and Margaret Bearskin are Cree culture teachers from Chisasibi. They have been teachers for 20 years. Before that they lived off the land as their ancestors had done. Their hunting area is in and around the Caniapiscau reservoir. I called them to see what they thought about the renaming of the mountains that are above the water line.

Tell me a little about where you went hunting. Is it by Caniapiscau?

Margaret: Yes, that is where our parents hunted. We used to leave from Chisasibi, when we were still at the island. When we were still in school our parents used to go hunting. School started by the 15th of August and our parents used to be gone by then. Whoever had parents going inland would stay in the residence to wait for school to start. Then school would be finished by June 15 but the people inland generally didn’t arrive by then. They were far inland they had to wait for summer to arrive. It takes awhile for summer to arrive inland. They paddled from afar. Then it was time for me to go hunting and I went hunting where my parents went. That is where we went hunting, where my parents went hunting. Samuel’s parents passed away early in life. So we stayed with our parents wherever they were. When we went, we couldn’t take 10 months worth of non-Native food. We lived off the land.

How long did it take you to paddle over there?

We left around August and we would see the first snow falls as we paddled. We would reach where we wanted to be by October. A lot of times we would portage with a lot of snow on the ground. We would keep paddling until it froze up. There were a lot of people who still had to go further than us. Around the river they call Mistsiibii at the end of the road. They went almost to the end of Quebec.

They were the ones next to the Innu?

Yes, we used to see the Schefferville people. Near Kuujuuaq there used to be a cabin with only a radio about 100 miles from the town. My father used to go there to get supplies. I can just remember it. I was five at the time. It took a while for them to go. They went to get some supplies. They only brought back flour. There was no lard. Crees travelled far using only their legs or their arms for paddling.

Were all the mountains, rivers and lakes named?

Yes, where we were. I know that where we stepped we named the rivers, even the smaller creeks. And the mountains were all named.

Why were they named?

Talk to Samuel, he will tell you.

Okay, Thank you.

Samuel: Watchia.

Watchia.

What do you want to know? What don’t you know? (Laughter.)

Everything. I want to learn about everything. I don’t know anything.

So now you want to learn? You’re thinking more wisely now?

I finally came to my senses. (More laughter.)

She (Margaret) has told me a little about your hunting area. Where you used to hunt. The Quebec government is talking about naming the mountains, the islands in the reservoir. Tell me a little about your hunting area.

Let me first start by greeting everyone who will read this. She has probably told you about the paddling that we have done to get to our hunting area. We would stop paddling and wait for freeze up. About one month, that would be the longest I would spend time in any one place. When we waited for freeze up. Then we would use our legs when wanted to get around. Two weeks is considered a long time to stay when we used our legs. We searched far for our money. When we couldn’t find any more we moved on. A lot of times we ate fish. There wasn’t much caribou or moose. When my grandfather went hunting he saw caribou. But when my dad was hunting-he lived to be about 40 years old-he didn’t see any caribou. When I was 20 years old that was when I saw caribou again.

Our generation is the last to exclusively hunt for our living. The later generations are the ones that started working inside to get their living. Since the river has been flooded we can’t go hunting any more. Wherever they flooded we can’t go hunting. We used to go hunting where they flooded. I can’t see where I can go hunting. I hunted all over before the reservoirs flooded the land. When we talk about Chisasibi land there isn’t a lot of it. It isn’t big. I can’t see where I can get money. I have seen Whapmagootsui, Wemindji and Mistissini land. And we saw the people to the east. Chisasibi land is very small. The powerlines were very hard on us. We couldn’t find our money any more. Now we get bills for the power and they haven’t discussed the money we used to get from the land. We can’t get anything from the water. There is no more land. A long time ago I never used to meet up with non-Natives. Then as time went by I met more and more. Then the land was flooded. I didn’t like what I saw. When they first started flooding it was during the fall. That is when I pitied it the most when the water kept on rising. The ones who hibernate during the winter were already hibernating. A lot of those that hibernate must have drowned. They killed a lot. That is what I will say, they killed a lot. I didn’t like what I saw. All the money was gone. Even the water animals were destroyed. A lot of animals drowned.

What about the names of the places? Where do they come from?

However he (Iyiyuu) sees the mountain or the lake, that is how he names it. Those mountains, those are the only things that are showing through the water. One mountain is called Napayaak Uuchii. It is a male porcupine. One time a group of hunters came across a porcupine at the top of the mountain and they called it Napayaak Uuchii. That is one mountain that has been named…

I am asking you this to help me explain to people who don’t understand.

Akuuda. When you ask how they name places, it was how saw things. A lot of lakes were also named, Iyiyuu used to say where he lived, where he came from. He would say the name of the lake. There is a lake simply called Nimaas Sakhiikan. There were whitefish there. There is another one called Juumshuumnuu Sakhiikan. However, they didn’t mention Kuukuumnuu. There is an old man who used to stay there. I guess they called him Juumshuumnuu. There is also Waapuush Sakhiikan, Amisk Sakhiikan. Everything. That is how the ones who named the places named them. The ones who were first there. However one saw something, how the land looked, how the trees were standing. They named them so he could tell the story of where he saw the caribou. They named a lot of lakes and everything within them. The islands were named. There was a big lake called Kaamaamaachiishikmaach. There’s a lot of names within that lake. There were a lot of names. When the lakes were still visible.

So the ones who don’t understand can be told that the mountains already have names?

Well, when they ask you, you can tell them all the mountains already have names. When the Iyiyuuch first came they already named everything. How they saw things. There are already names for the mountains that are above the water. I would ask the ones who want to change the names not to. Those names have been there for a long time. There were names wherever I stepped.

(Interview and translation by Ernest Webb)