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Image | TellingOurStory_nemushum

Caption: Bears play a central role in Indigenous spiritualities. Many nations respectfully call him nemushum, which means ‘my grandfather.’ Like all living and non-living beings, the bear is a part of a circular worldview. (Eruoma Awashish/Terre Innue)

Image | TellingOurStory_LegendofMesh

Caption: The Innu creation story of Mesh (pronounced and often written ‘Mee’ in Innu) has been passed down orally for thousands of years. The story describes two prehistoric fish, one male and one female, who came out of the water. After a while, they grew legs so they looked like lizards, and together they climbed a tree. When they came down, their bodies were covered in hair and they could walk like humans today. The story shows that Indigenous people understood the concept of evolution. (Eruoma Awashish/Terre Innue)

Image | TellingOurStory_TheBlackRobe

Caption: The Atikamekw refer to priests as ‘the black flame.’ ‘It has to do with our beliefs,’ says Constant Awashish, grand chief of the Atikamekw Nation Council, in Telling Our Story. ‘Initially, we're all sparks which feed off of beautiful, positive things. But unfortunately, our ancestors described priests as those who spawned the black flame, who darken the fire.’ (Eruoma Awashish/Terre Innue)

Image | TellingOurStory_motherandchild

Caption: ‘The woman is the Earth. And the woman is the only doorway in which a spirit can come into the world,’ says traditional teacher, ceremonialist, drum keeper and grandmother Edna Manitowabi in Telling Our Story. (Nalakwsis/Terre Innue)

Image | Telling Our Story_goosespirit

Caption: ‘My father comes from a lineage of goose hunters. And our belief is that when you’re born a goose hunter, the spirit of the goose will protect you,’ says Matthew Mukash, former grand chief of the Cree Nation in Telling Our Story. ‘It’s food and medicine at the same time. It’s also a reminder that Mother Earth provides whatever it is that we need to survive.’ (Nalakwsis/Terre Innue)

Image | TellingOurStory_weight

Caption: ‘It's anger that we have to manage as parents, partners, grandparents and neighbours of Quebecers,” says Senator Michèle Audette in Telling Our Story. ‘We have to remain diplomatic, we always have to educate.… Sometimes, I want to scream, but if I do, I’ll scare people.’ (Nalakwsis/Terre Innue)

Image | TellingOurStory_skywoman

Caption: Kanienʼkehá:ka creation stories are intimately linked to agriculture. A long time ago, the Earth was one great ocean, with a sky world above it. One day, a pregnant woman from that world had a dream in which she was told to make medicine from the roots of the Tree of Life. Her husband dug it up, leaving a big hole in the sky. (Prim/Terre Innue)

Image | TellingOurStory_skywomanturtle

Caption: When she bent down to look through the hole, the woman fell into the void. Geese flew toward her to break her fall. They gently placed her on the back of a large turtle that had emerged from the sea. The Sky Woman was happy to be alive. She started to dance in circles, from east to west. And as she danced, she dropped the seeds from the Tree of Life. Each one held seeds from many plants including the three sisters: corn, beans and squash. To this day, the knowledge keepers of the Kanienʼkehá:ka people still grow the three sisters in the same way. (Prim/Terre Innue)

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