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Embracing Innu culture in a tent overnight on Ponant's winter cruiseEmbracing Innu culture in a tent overnight on Ponant's winter cruise

Le Commandant Charcot tour participants came away with a strong sense of connection to the First Nations community. 'I feel like we are now ambassadors for the Innu,' one woman said.

Anne Kalosh, Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

January 26, 2025

8 Min Read
Kuei kuei means 'welcome,' the shaputuan where Le Commandant Charcot passengers slept overnight and Innu singer/songwriter Bozo St-Onge, who performed with his guitarPHOTOS: ANNE KALOSH

Near Sept-Îles on the snowy banks of Québec's Moisie River, an Innu community opened its doors and hearts to a dozen passengers from Ponant's Le Commandant Charcot for a overnight stay that was transformative for some.

The guests learned about First Nations history and how traditions still influence contemporary culture and beliefs, feasted on local bounty, crafted dreamcatchers, danced to the music of a noted Innu songwriter who stopped by and bedded down in a shaputuan, a cone-shaped, two-doored tent.

Sleeping over fragrant pine boughs

In sleeping bags on cots over fragrant pine boughs, with a wood-heated stove keeping the tent cozy from the sub-zero temperatures outside, they snuggled in — visions of spirits and shamans dancing in their heads after an Innu elder shared legends in 'bedtime stories' by firelight.

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Authentic cultural connection is part of Canada's first international winter cruise, and this stay with the Mani-Uténam community on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River delivered just that, according to several participants. In fact, a few said they'd booked the cruise because of this special 'Embracing the Innu Culture' tour.

Cecile Millet of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, was one. She'd visited Canada before but wanted to see how the Innu live and was excited to sleep in a traditional tent.

Related:Embarking on Canada's historic first international winter cruise

For her, the experience was 'overwhelming.'

It conjured up 'deep emotions,' Millet said, especially coming to appreciate the role that ancestors still play in daily Innu life through 'the food, the songs and the storytelling.'

The presence of spirits

Millet felt the presence of spirits all around. She was moved when an elder, Ovila Fontaine, showed a drum, considered a sacred object, explaining he couldn't play it because the Innui believe that one has to dream about a drum three times first, and he had done so only once.

For Millet, this eye-opening visit was even more than she dreamed it would be. She came away with a strong sense of connection.

'I feel like we are now ambassadors for the Innu,' she said.

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When the noted Innu songwriter Bozo St-Onge dropped by to sing and play his guitar, he shared the inspirations for his songs, many about his family. One recounted going out to check rabbit snares with his grandmother, who vanished. They searched and searched for her and much later found her sleeping in the snow because, she calmly explained, she'd grown tired of walking so far.

Another song was about troubled schoolboys who were forming gangs until St-Onge invited them to help build a sweat lodge and participate in a ceremony with elders. This connection to their community had a calming effect, and the kids didn't fight any more.

Related:Ponant pioneers winter cruises in Canada (updated)

Dancing together

For one song, the Ponant guests joined their hosts to dance together in a circle.

Similar to Millet, a Belgian woman said she booked Le Commandant Charcot's winter Québec cruise after learning about the opportunity to experience the Innu culture. And two Frenchwomen traveling together found the encounter 'very authentic' with 'no filter.' An 88-year-old Parisian who's traveled on more than 40 Ponant cruises took part, too, along with a German couple.

For Dominique Peninon, a Frenchman who lives in Brussels, 'The people were extremely nice. They really did their utmost to accommodate us. They have a sense of hospitality that unfortunately has disappeared in our civilization in a lot of countries.'

He had hoped to spend more time outside, though, missing a walk in the forest at night. That was skipped due to the intense cold.

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Instead, the Ponant passengers spent the afternoon and evening in a log chalet that serves as a community center. They were hosted by Serge McKenzie, a community leader, who greeted each person, saying: 'Kuei kuei' (welcome) before switching to French.

Related:Winter cruises to Québec—a 'crazy' idea that's about to come true

McKenzie was joined by his young granddaughter Mercedes and her friend Madison and several community members including elder Ovila Fontaine; Madeline Uniam, who acted as a translater for the three English-speaking tour participants; and Gary McFarland, a Swampy Cree from Manitoba who's spent many years in the Mashtua community with his Innu partner, raising their children.

Why welcome cruisers?

'It is important for me and my people to promote our cultural identity,' McKenzie told Seatrade Cruise News.

He is past president of Destination Sept-Îles Nakauinanu, a corporation that promotes the Innu communities of Uashat and Maliotenam to the cruise industry. A couple years ago, he'd hosted Ponant's José Sarica, director, expedition experience, on a scouting trip facilitated by Cruise the Saint Lawrence, and worked with tour operator Destinations North America to hone this 'Embracing the Innu Culture' overnight.

It is being offered on each of Le Commandant Charcot's four voyages this season. Priced at €1,150, the 21-hour shore excursion was sold out and waitlisted during the ongoing inaugural cruise from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon to Québec City.

Feasts of local bounty

Mani-Pien Vollant, an Innu chef from Maliotenam who prepares traditional foods with a contemporary twist, presented a tasty lunch of white partridge and barley soup; salad with bustard, blueberries and shallots; smoked salmon with cream cheese, capers and bannock; red cranberry seed cake and whipped cream infused with Labrador tea; and cheesecake with blueberries and cranberries.

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Later, a bountiful dinner prepared on site featured salmon and two fat geese roasted over fires in a smokehouse.

The guests made dreamcatchers, festooned with feathers and beads. They learned about hunting traditions from Fontaine, including how weapons evolved from spears to bow and arrow, and the importance of caribou — whose numbers have alarmingly dwindled recently — and how every part of the animal was used, bone to make scrapers and needles, tendons the thread and the hide into objects such as a purse-like container to store food.

The visitors heard about the sacred use of traditional medicine. They learned about the painful history of children forcibly separated from their families and sent to religious residential schools to be assimilated into white Canadian culture. And the Innu hosts discussed more recent social and legal reforms and economic changes such as the discovery of iron ore in the Sept-Îles region, which brought prosperity.

A news event

A TV crew and several reporters and photographers covering this historic winter cruise stopped in, along with Le Commandant Charcot Capt. Patrick Marchesseau and other officers and shore excursion staff, Ponant CEO Hervé Gastinel and René Trépanier, executive director of Cruise the Saint Lawrence.

But mostly the visit was an opportunity for intimate, one-to-one chats and reflection.

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At bedtime, everyone got hand-held lights, should nature call during the night. (A toilet, sink and shower were available in the chalet.) Retiring to the shaputuan, cocooned in their sleeping bags, the guests heard Fontaine's legends, his shadow looming above him in the firelight, before the tent settled into slience.

Earlier, there had been jokes about snoring, but the quiet of the night was broken only by the wood crackling in the stove.

The next morning, one by one, the guests emerged from their sleeping bags, tugging on boots and coats before pulling back the tent flap to emerge into the pale pink light of dawn.

The black spruce and balsam fir around the shaputuan were heavy with snow, and the Moisie in the distance was iced-in. Already the community center was abuzz with preparations for a hearty breakfast — eggs, meats, toast with maple syrup or salted caramel, tarts, fruit salad and more.

Sipping coffee outside, McFarland told Seatrade Cruise News how connecting with his native roots saved him from a traumatic childhood. He's now a counselor, helping others who are struggling to find their balance in a fast-changing world.

Part of the family

When it was time to leave, McKenzie gave each guest a parting gift — a miniature drum and snowshoes, potent symbols in the Innu culture.

'You're all part of our family now,' he said.

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About the Author

Anne Kalosh

Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

Anne Kalosh covers global stories, reporting both breaking and in-depth news on cruising's significant people, places, ships and trends. A sought-after expert on cruising, she has moderated conferences around the world, including the high-profile State of the Industry panel at Seatrade Cruise Global. She created and led the acclaimed itinerary-planning case study for Seatrade's cruise master classes held at Cambridge and Oxford universities. She has been the cruise columnist for AFAR.com, and her freelance stories have appeared in a wide range of publications, from The New York Times to The Miami Herald.

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