Raw materials

Making BABICHE

Babiche is used to make the webbing for snowshoes. Babiche is caribou or moose hide that is still raw or untanned.

“When we made babiche at home, one person would cut up the frozen caribou hide outside the tent with a Joseph brand pocket knife. Someone else inside the tent pulled the strips through an opening in the tent to thaw them, and a third person laced the snowshoes. It was a real production line.”
Alexandre Pinette, Innu

Bernard Connolly and Alexandre Pinette, Innus
Images : Sarah-Emmanuelle Brassard
La Boîte Rouge vif archives, 2006

Choosing and cutting the tree

If a large birch cannot be found, a smaller birch or a tamarack, which also provides a very strong, hard wood, is used.

The type of wood also depends on the region. For example, in the area inhabited by the Atikamekw Nehirowisiwok of Obedjiwan, yellow birch is quite rare so maple is sometimes used for snowshoes.

1-6. Paul Blacksmith, Innu
Photographs : Carl Morasse
La Boîte Rouge vif archives, 2005

Making the frame

“Often, several of us work on the same pair of snowshoes. This pair, for example, will be assembled by Antoine and laced by Pelashe. The important thing is that everyone involved is working toward a common goal, namely to help the hunter feed his family. Once the snowshoes are completed, they must be left to dry for three days, after which the edges are evened out.”
Céline Bellefleur, 2005

Voice of Céline Bellefleur
This video clip is from Innu Aitun, connaissances traditionnelles innues,
a documentry TV series produced in 2005 by Production Manitu inc.

See : www.nametauinnu.ca

Lacing

“Usually the men make the frames and the women clean and cut up the hide and lace the snowshoes.”
Alexandre Pinette, Innu

“I thread the babiche back and forth between the strings, going around like this. But first, I use a string to hold the various pieces in place while they dry.

Obviously the entire snowshoe can’t be laced with a single length of rawhide. So two pieces are joined together by making an incision in each and interlocking them. The resulting joint is practically invisible once it’s dry.

It takes about a week to lace a pair of snowshoes. To keep boredom at bay, the Innu get together to make all sorts of objects.

We use an antler from a young caribou to even out the spaces between the lacings.”
Pelashe Mark, Innu

Pelashe Mark & Kanikuen Gabriel, Lac Uakunu
Music : Kanatuut, Rodrigue Fontaine, 2005
Voice of Céline Bellefleur
This video clip is from Innu Aitun, connaissances traditionnelles innues,
a documentary TV series produced in 2005 by Production Manitu inc.

See : www.nametauinnu.ca

Tools

A crooked knife is used to trim and shape the frame. This tool was indispensable to life in the forest and was used for all sorts of tasks.

A snowshoe lacing needle and webbing spacer is used for lacing the snowshoe. The spacer is used to even out the spaces in the webbing. These objects are fairly small and are often made of animal bone. They are directly linked to the way of life in the area and are used on a daily basis. They also demonstrate that all parts of the animal are used and nothing is wasted.

1. Crooked knife
Jean-Baptiste Flamand, Atikamek Nehirowisiw
Les Musées de la civilisation, 73-568
Photographs : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

2. Awl
Caribou antler
Les Musées de la civilisation, 80-11568
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

3. Snowshoe lacing needle
Moose bone
Les Musées de la civilisation, 75-1089
Photograph : Jessy Bernier – Perspective

4. Snowshoe lacing needle
Caribou antler, sinew
Les Musées de la civilisation, 80-11581
Photographs : Jessy Bernier – Perspective