WOLVERINE TRACKING THE ELUSIVE TRICKSTER

IN INNU CULTURE, the wolverine is a trickster, the central character in many dramatic capers. Sometimes the wolverine is a hero, saving Innu families from vicious cannibals; other times he’s a scoundrel tricking both the Innu and his fellow animals. Either way, it’s guaranteed that he’s getting into mischief.

- OSSIE MICHELIN

Filmmaker Christine Poker, who comes from the Innu community of Natuashish in northern Labrador, grew up hearing stories around the tent stove about the conniving Kuekuatsheu, the name for the wolverine in her language of Innu-aimun.

For the Innu, Kuekuatsheu is more than just a character in a story; he is almost a part of the community. Elders still talk of him as if they know him personally as if they witnessed his antics themselves. Poker says she remembers her grandparents telling her stories of how Kuekuatsheu would steal food from their camp.

“My grandparents said that when the Innu people started dying and leaving the country [to settle in larger communities], Kuekuatsheu left with them,” Poker explains. She notes that when she is in her community with her grandkids, they’re less interested in hearing the stories of the wolverine. But that all changes when they are on the Land. In their tent at night, the young people are eager to hear the stories of Kuekuatsheu.

It is not difficult to determine where the idea of the wolverine being a trickster comes from. Though reclusive, these animals are also renowned for being curious and sneaky. They have been known to steal bait from traps, ransack cabins and elude hunters. If you see a wolverine in the wild, consider yourself lucky — they tend to avoid areas inhabited by people, have an extremely low population density, and are most active from dusk to dawn when most people are asleep.