Cree Style Snowshoes by Amélie Marcotte and Francis Audet

My husband, Francis Audet, and I, Amélie Marcotte, are making several traditional gear that we use in the bush. We live in the province of Québec, Canada. We are specially involved in snowshoes.

 

The different landscapes of our country gave birth to a variety of shapes in snowshoes that natives peoples adapted for their travels. Their snowshoe's finesse and refinement reveals the richness of this culture.

 

We make our snowshoes from growing trees that we fell with a chainsaw. After which we split the logs with an axe and coins. The final work for shaping the frame's pieces is done by axe and crooked knife. Frames are of white birch, yellow birch, ash and sometimes, maple.

 

I weave the traditional snowshoes with thin babiche from caribou rawhide that we prepare. I also use deer and moose sometimes. The tufts are made of natural wool which is from Kamouraska, a small town near the St-Laurence river.

 

These pictures show a traditional Cree style snowshoes from the James Bay area. The weaving is of caribou and the frames from birch tree.

 

My blog's is in French only: ameliemarcotte.blogspot.com

Copy and photos supplied by Amélie Marcotte.