About the project

Share 10,000 years of history with Charles Api-Bellefleur

The Atanukana are the ancestral tales and legends of the Innu, First Peoples whose traditional territory, Nitassinan, stretches across the North Shore, Saguenay, Lac-Saint-Jean, and Labrador.

They are of central heritage value to the Innu people and carry millennia of knowledge whose value is inestimable. These ancient stories, which deal with both the origin of the world and the meaning of human presence, offer subtle observations accumulated over thousands of years.

The legend of Tshakapesh (the man in the moon, or the one who pulls a rope behind him) is probably the most popular in the Innu tradition. Passed down throughout the Innu territory, they recount numerous episodes in the lives of these two characters.

Most Innu myths address fundamental themes such as the need for sharing, mutual aid, individualism, carelessness, arrogance, and family ties. These stories reflect a basic human need to understand the world in which we live. They are powerful tools for transmission and education.

Storyteller Charles-Api Bellefleur is also one of the last speakers of Nutshimit Innu-Aimun, the language of the territory, an ancient version of this Indigenous language. Faced with the urgent need to preserve this language and these stories from the oral tradition, we recognize the importance of the ancestral knowledge held by our elders. It is essential to ensure that this knowledge is passed on to future generations.

Charles-Api Bellefleur

An Innu from Unaman Shipit on the North Shore, Charles-Api Bellefleur is the guardian of his people’s legends. A great bearer of traditions and a valuable defender of his culture and his language, Innu-aimun, he tells his stories in colourful, vivid language.

He is also a musician and accompanies himself on the accordion and teueikan, a sacred drum that is highly respected among the Innu. He recounts stories with respect, emotion, and pride, relating to a time when humans and animals truly shared everything, including the mysterious world of dreams. He shares his art throughout the province and the country and is a source of inspiration for generations seeking to fulfill their identity.

In 2021, he was named a “Maîtres de traditions vivantes“, a national program of the Conseil québécois du patrimoine vivant that recognizes artists and artisans of exceptional talent who have mastered a practice or technique passed down from generation to generation.

Credits

Storyteller: Charles-Api Bellefleur
Studio production: Shikuan Vollant
Director of Photography: Elie-John Joseph
Sound Recording: Kim Fontaine
Editing: Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush
Coordination – postproduction: Jean-Sébastien Létourneau
Editing assistant: Anne-Claire St-Onge
Innu Translation: Louise Canapé, Hélène St-Onge, Sylvie Basile, Evangeline Canapé, Sabine Mestokosho, Kathy Moreau-Lacasse, Georges Awad
Production: Kim O’Bomsawin, Alexandre Bacon, Andrée-Anne Frenette
Coordination: Ariane Alain, Kim Arseneault, Elie-John Joseph, Nadia Koromyslova, Florence Jarry
Communications: Andréanne O’Bomsawin
Thanks: Studio Makusham
SPECIAL THANKS: Charles-Api Bellefleur, Joséphine Bacon and the community of Uashat mak Mani-utenam