A Passion of the Past

Our ancestors used to go on the land by dogsled to hunt and find new camps each season. Their life was hard because they had to hunt to feed themselves and make warm clothing. When men went hunting for their families, they kept the traditions alive by using their most important means of transportation: the dogsled. Nowadays, our elders still hold fond memories of those years. The elders have memories of the relationship between the dogs and the hunter, and also memories of mutual help amongst the Inuit when they got lost in some unexpected blizzards.
For this project, we interviewed David Etok and Johnny George Annanack, elders in our community. David told us that when he was young, dogsleds were made from wood. The ropes that pulled the dogs were made of seal and walrus skin. Johnny said, “It used to take all day, just for one dogsled.”
The mushers began training the dogs when they were puppies. The most important things that dogs had to learn were obedience and the words that had to do with directions, such as “left”, “right”, “stop” and “go”. Johnny told us that, “The owner and the dogs were just like best friends.” David said, “Even through tough times, the owners would do anything to keep their dogs running, and the dogs would do their best to keep traveling.”
The dogs were only fed once or twice a day. That was because the dogs had to stay fit and because they needed energy.
Both David and Johnny remember that there were women mushers too. David said, “Women were doing even better than men.” David also added that women were good at hunting, and getting the dogs ready for trips. Hopefully in the future, both Inuit women as well as men will continue their involvement in dogsledding.

This text will be part of our Quebec Roots Book
By: Louisa and Eva