As the story goes

Use
Different types for different needs

Various types of snowshoes are used, depending on snow quality and the area they are used in. The same nation may use a number of different models.

Uikutshieu asham [innu]
In the spring and fall, when there are patches of bare soil, snowshoes laced with fishing line are used. They are much easier to repair because fishing line is much more flexible than babiche. These are temporary, bearpaw-shaped snowshoes.

Mashk asham [innu] – Bearpaws
The Innu used bearpaw snowshoes for working. The width of the snowshoe depends on the environment. The Innu who live along the St. Lawrence River where the forest is denser preferred narrower snowshoes that make it easier to walk through the bush.

Bearpaw snowshoes were also used by children, because they outgrew them quickly, and they are easier to make.

Beavertail snowshoes
This type of snowshoe is made for walking. They float on the snow better than any other type of snowshoe. Their shape provides better stability and prevents snow from being thrown onto the backs of the legs.

In the woods, when a moose or other large game animal was killed, the hunters would return to camp to get their beavertail snowshoes, which allowed them to carry more weight.

Curved tip snowshoes
Snowshoes with curved tips were used for travelling. You can run with these snowshoes because they are longer and lighter than the other types.

Huron snowshoes
These snowshoes, also called common snowshoes, were used on a daily basis for hunting, trapping, and working around the tent.

1. Uikutshieu asham – Intermediate snowshoes
Alexandre Pinette, Innu
Wood, nylon wire, sinew, wool
La Boîte Rouge vif archives, 2005

2. Temporary snowshoes
Alexandre Pinette, Innu
Wood, nylon rope
Archives de La Boîte Rouge vif, 2005

3. The common snowshoes
Mina Pissinicouane
Eeyou, Chisasibi
White spruce, sinew
Les Musées de la civilisation, 66-462
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

4. Mashk asham – The Bearpaws
Innu, Côte-Nord
Wood, sinew
Les Musées de la civilisation, restored by Centre de conservation du Québec, 68-3075
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

5. Curved tip snowshoes
Georges Pepabano
Eeyou, Chisasibi
Birch, paint, fiber, wool
Les Musées de la civilisation, 75-987
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

6. Beavertail snowshoes
Johnny and Emma Shecapio
Eeyou, Mistissini
Wood, fiber, wool, sinew
Les Musées de la civilisation, 83-2235
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

Distinctive features
Pompons and motifs

Snowshoe webbing motifs vary from one community to another. The Innu of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam use four types of motifs, they express the Innu’s ties to the land. The motifs have not always been red−before the introduction of paint, the motifs were woven into the webbing itself.

Pompons may also be fastened to the snowshoe frame. They vary from family to family and their number and arrangement leave distinctive marks in the snow. The balls of wool also protect the babiche strips wrapped around the frame to prevent them from wearing out on ice.

1. Snowshoe
Innu, Côte-Nord
Wood, sinew
Les Musées de la civilisation, restored by Centre de conservation du Québec, 68-3075
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

2. Snowshoe
Georges Pepabano
Eeyou, Chisasibi
Birch, paint, fiber, wool
Les Musées de la civilisation, 75-987
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

3. Snowshoe
Johnny and Emma Shecapio
Eeyou, Mistissini
Wood, fiber, wool, sinew
Les Musées de la civilisation, 83-2235
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

Tim & the snowshoes

We can differentiate families and clans by their snowshoes.

The four most commonly used types: bearpaw snowshoes for outside work, children, and emergencies; the common or Huron snowshoe for daily activities; the beavertail snowshoe for carrying large game; and the curved tip snowshoe for long trips. When coming out of a tipi on snowshoes, one snowshoe should point east and the other west. The purpose of this is to ask the spirits to help you find your way and return safely to camp. Elders sing to ask for assistance from the spirits while they make snowshoes. Women help their husbands and do the lacing.

The motifs are very important too. They show respect for the spirits. Traditional activities are based on six seasons. Snowshoe-related activities mainly occur in the first and the second season. In September and October, Eeyou (Cree) travel to their respective trap lines and hunters kill moose, bear, and smaller game. Cree women prepare and dry moose hide. The skins are immersed in water again to extract the babiche for snowshoe webbing. The second season is in November and December. Hunters make traditional tools to assist them in their trapping endeavours while waiting for rivers and lakes to freeze before they can start hunting again. It's at this time of year that they make snowshoes for their families. Elders often call their snowshoes feathers, as they seem to float on the snow!
A special ceremony marks a child’s first steps on snowshoes.

Illustrations : Tim Whiskeychan, Eeyou (Cris)

Huron-Wendat snowshoes

“The crafting of moccasins, canoes, and snowshoes is not a recent activity. In the mid-nineteenth century, we had a flourishing trade in handcrafted objects. In fact, we made snowshoes for the British garrisons. The entire economy in Wendake was centered around our aboriginal lifestyle.”
Jocelyn Paul, Huron-Wendat

Many remember life on the reserve and its traditional industries. “There were backyard snowshoe and canoe workshops, and someone was always working on the street.” “I remember the smell of snowshoes drying on the roofs of the houses. It smelt of babiche.”
Concertation 2006, Huron-Wendat

Wendake’s business tradition and know-how is still alive and well. Local companies produce and sell a large number of snowshoes, not only wood and babiche models but also those made of aluminum and synthetic materials.

Snowshoes manufacturers in the workshop of Bastien Frères, at the Huron village (Wendake)
appeared in Reader's Digest in november 1953.
Photograph : David Forbert