The magnificent Naskapi ceremonial cloaks have been exhibited in some of the world’s greatest museums and are still sought after by collectors today.
“The man who wore this caribou skin coat made it to entertain and honor the spirit of the caribou he was trying to kill. It was a Naskapi,” we can read under the photo of one of these coats on the site of the Kawawachikamach community, 15 km from Shefferville, where most of the approximately 1,500 Naskapis live.
Naskapie nation
From the 18th and 19th centuries, these coats were sewn from caribou skin and carefully painted by hand. “The peculiarity of these great coats is that they were worn only once during the ritual of the hunt. Some of them were found by travelers and can be found in several museums today,” explains Jean Tanguay, who is responsible for indigenous collections at the Musée de la civilization du Québec, which owns three of these exceptional garments.
More than $250,000
The coat is also owned by the Canadian Museum of History and is reproduced on site by the public and dates from 1813. The bottom of the sticker indicates that this traditional object is “Not repatriated”.
MBANQ
The question of this cultural appropriation is constantly increasing in large museums where we question the ethics of collections. In the case of Naskapi coats, the British Museum restored a coat from the First Nations of Quebec in 2021. The coat is now part of the Oujé-Bougoumou Cree Cultural Institute collection. “It’s like part of our identity is coming home,” curator Minnie Coonishish said at the time.
Naskapie nation
Displaced people
A people who were often displaced after settlement, the Naskapis lived in northeastern Quebec and Labrador hunting caribou. The word Innu Naskapi means “people beyond the sky.” Today there are about 1,500 people, a third of whom live outside the reserve.
Wikipedia
The Naskapi nation signed the Northeast Quebec Convention and today demands an expansion of its territory. Kawawachikamach covers an area of about 40 acres northeast of Schefferville. “There is a lot of space for expansion, whether for residential, commercial or industrial purposes,” we can read on the community’s website.