The nomadic Innu as Serge Jauvin knew them

Photographer Serge Jauvin revives his archives from 40 years ago, when he documented the daily life of the Mark family, from Unamen Shipu. He comes out with Aitnanipan : this is how we liveda book which traces the transition from nomadism to sedentary life in this Innu community of the Lower North Shore.

Both a logbook and an ethnographic story, Serge Jauvin’s new work illustrates a full year in the life of the family of Hélène and William-Mathieu Mark, following them step by step.

1970 and I was captivated by the knowledge, the knowledge of these people”,”text”:”I knew the Mark family at the end of the 1970s and I was captivated by the knowledge, the knowledge of these people -there”}}”>I met the Mark family at the end of the 1970s and I was captivated by the knowledge of these people.remembers Serge Jauvin.

I found everything that Innu culture can contain in terms of knowledge and knowledge through them.

When I proposed the project to them, he says, I told them that they were completely free to refuse, and they told me: “We consider you part of the family. You can come whenever you want, you can stay as long as you want and take all the photos you want.”

Serge Jauvin has now produced 450 pages of testimonies, with more than 900 photographs, all told according to the rhythm of the seasons and the 12 months of the year. He traces the activities of fishing, hunting, tanning, smoking and canoe making.

Alongside the regional launch of Aitnanipan at 40^e North Shore book fair, the MP for Duplessis and minister responsible for the North Shore, Kateri Champagne Jourdain, met the author-photographer.

Jovin has an important work which relates the Innu culture of the North Shore and which allows Quebecers to have access to it”,”text”:”MonsieurJovin has an important work which relates the Innu culture of the North Shore and which allows Quebecers to have access to it”}}”>Mr. Jauvin has an important work which relates the Innu culture of the North Shore and which allows Quebecers to have access to itunderlines the elected official.

From his years in Unamen Shipu, Serge Jauvin also remembers the Innu fights to protect the territory.

bulldozers, he says. He didn’t speak a word of French. He sent his son and the next day Hydro-Quebec told him that they intended to build a dam. And they had never consulted the Innu regarding this project.”,”text”:”Hélène, my heroine in the book, her older brother camped exactly where Hydro-Québec wanted to settle. And in the fall, he had the surprise of his life when he noticed that there was an airplane runway that had been built. There were trailers and bulldozers, he says. He didn’t speak a word of French. He sent his son and the next day Hydro-Quebec told him they were planning to build a dam. And they had never consulted the Innu regarding this project.”}}”>Hélène, my heroine in the book, her older brother camped exactly where Hydro-Québec wanted to set up. […] And in the fall, he had the surprise of his life when he noticed that there was an airplane runway that had been built. There were trailers and bulldozers, says Serge Jauvin. He didn’t speak a word of French. He sent his son and the next day Hydro-Quebec told him they were planning to build a dam. And they had never consulted the Innu regarding this project.

Today, the author does not believe that such a situation could happen again. We know well that now they are trying to establish good relations with the Innu, because it has become unavoidable.

Times have changed since the 1980s, the author agrees, and some ancestral practices are less widespread. He is still convinced that Unamen Shipu has immense years to live.

I trust the Innu. They have always struggled against adversity. I don’t see why new generations, even if they have cell phones, couldn’the believes.

They will find a new path to fulfill themselves as their parents did, then their great-grandparents. The important thing is that they remain aware of their origin.

At the same time, the photographer is working on an exhibition at the Ilnu Museum in Mashteuiatsh for 2026, to mark his 50 years of complicity with the laughing people.

With information from Charles-Étienne Drouin