Everything about The Atikamekw totally explained
The
Atikamekw are the indigenous inhabitants of the area they refer to as
Nitaskinan ("Our Land"), in the upper St. Maurice valley of
Québec. Their population currently stands at around 4500. One of the main communities is Manouane, about 160 kilometers northeast of Montreal. They have a tradition of agriculture as well as fishing, hunting and gathering. They have close traditional ties with the
Innu people, who were their historical allies against the
Inuit.
Atikamekw, a language of the Cree subgroup of
Algonquian, is still in everyday use, but their land has largely been appropriated by logging companies and their ancient way of life is almost extinct. Their name, which literally means "
Whitefish", is sometimes also spelt "Ahtikamekw", "Attikamekw", "Attikamek", "Attimewk" or "Atikamek". The French colonists referred to them as
Têtes-de-Boules, meaning "Ball-Heads" or "Round-Heads".
A small number of families still make their living making traditional birch bark baskets and canoes.
Population
| Atikamekw Population of Québec in 2004 |
| Communities |
Total |
Residents |
non-Residants |
| Manawan |
2 271 |
1 981 |
290 |
| Obedjiwan |
2 392 |
2 003 |
389 |
| Wemotaci |
1 500 |
1 218 |
282 |
| Atikamekw (Total) |
6 163 |
5 202 |
961 |
History
The early documents begin to mention the Atikamekw at beginning of the 17th century, when they lived in the boreal forest of Haute-Mauricie. They had formed themselves into a group of 500 to 600 people, thus present themselves as "one of the nations more considerable of the north". In these early documents, the Atikamekw were recorded as "Atikamegouékhi". The Atikamekw have their own traditional culture, language and rituals, though they'd strong influences from the neighboring peoples. From this grouping, three prominent communities developed, where each of the three communities spoke the same language but with unique dialects reflecting each of the three. Members of the tribe as a whole generally speak the
Atikamekw language, but the majority don't write it. Previously, the Atikamekw had agreements with the Europeans, but had conflicts with the
Inuit. Because of their allies, the
Innus, the Atikamekw caught devastating diseases that were brought over by the Europeans. With the
Fur trade with the Montagnais (Innus), the French pulled in the Atikamekw into a
trade war between the Montagnais (Innus) and the
Iroquois in which the Innus didn't fare well.
Today, the Atikamekw, like their historical allies the Innus, suffer from
mercury poisoning due to the central electric power companies that had contaminated the water supply. Despite all these events, the Atikamekw were not moved off their traditional grounds.
The seasons and the division of the year
Among Atikamekw, the year is divided into six seasons. In every season, there's a principal activity. The seasons begin with
Sîkon, a pre-Spring in which the Atikamekw used to manufacture bark baskets, which can contain maple-sap gathered in this time of year. After
Sîkon is
Mirôskamin, Spring proper. In this season, the Atikamekw would go fishing and
partridge hunting. These activities continue through
Nîpin (Summer). During
Takwâkin (autumn), the Atikamekw would go
moose hunting. A successful hunt required the careful removal of the skin of the moose, offerings are made, and then the meat is jerkied for preservation. Women would continue to remove the hairs from the moose hide, then soak, deflesh and tan the hide, then make thin strips of leather for snowshoe netting. During the onset of winter, or
Pîtcipipôn, the men would go trap for
beavers. During the winter, or
Pipôn, the men would make nets to fish under the ice, while others produce
snowshoes.
In conjunction with the seasons, the Atikamekw divides the year into 12 months. The month names are based on the primary activity the Atikamekw society engaged themselves in. The months are:
Kenôsitc Pisimw – January: Longest [Winter] Moon
Akokatcic Pisimw – February: Groundhog Emerges Moon
Nikikw Pisimw – March: Otter Moon
Kâ Wâsikatotc Pisimw – April: Reflects on the Ice Moon
Wâpikon Pisimw – May: Flower Moon
Otehimin Pisimw – June: Strawberry Moon
Mikomin Pisimw – July: Raspberry Moon
Otâtokon Pisimw – August: [Bird] Fledges Moon
Kâkône Pisimw – September: Porcupine Mates Moon
Namekosi Pisimw – October: Trout [Spawns] Moon
Atikamekw Pisimw – November: Whitefish [Spawns] Moon
Pîtcipipôn Pisimw – December: Winter Arrives MoonFurther Information
Get more info on 'Atikamekw'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://atikamekw.totallyexplained.com">Atikamekw Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
