The Cree Trappers’ Association held a two-day celebration in Waskaganish March 10-11 to launch a new annual tradition and honour a decade of excellence since its Eeyou Ituun college program originated in the same community.
With a large turnout and memorable intergenerational teachings, the inaugural Cree Trappers’ Day was dynamic and informative. Among the presentations was one from Cree Health Board representatives Reggie Tomatuk and Paul Meillon on “Lead, the Environment and our Health.”
Elementary and secondary school students participated in hands-on demonstrations and cultural knowledge exchange throughout the day. CTA members introduced the children to handling various fur-bearing animals while other workshop stations focused on making snowshoes, fish nets and cultural tools.
“A participant told me ‘how come we never did this before?’” recalled event coordinator Mary Jane Salt. “The kids were so amazed – I guess this was the first time they’d seen something like this. They were able to hold one of the martens and were so amazed to see the cutting the fur after.”
Established in 1978, the CTA remains dedicated to promoting the Cree way of life while preserving the traditional trapline system. The last survivor of the organization’s founding members, Lawrence Katapatuk Sr., was honoured on Cree Trappers’ Day just days before he passed away.
“Lawrence was a good man, respected by a lot of people,” shared local CTA chairman William T. Hester. “I was happy he was there for the recognition. He was honoured and shared a few words.”
Back when most community members lived in “old tent shacks”, Hester’s family lived next door to Katapatuk’s. Hester remembered Katapatuk as a wild teenager before he married and started his own family. In 1973, Katapatuk became a Christian, attended Bible college and began sharing the gospel in Cree communities in Eeyou Istchee and Ontario. Hester said he “really liked his sermons.”
After a three-week course in North Bay for fur handling and auctions, Hester started working with the CTA in 1982. In those days before JBNQA funding, the main responsibility was renting and fuelling planes to bring trappers to their respective traplines each fall. Katapatuk would then fly to his own trapline.
Hester said nearly all traplines were busy with the fur trade at a time when limited employment opportunities led more Cree youth to follow their father’s footsteps in the bush. Now, fur harvesters’ auctions don’t garner the same excitement. At the most recent auction, held March 19-21, martens (sables) were in strong demand.
“Before the income security program, there was only the fur they could sell to Hudson’s Bay to spend on gas and shells,” Hester explained. “Now the value of a beaver pelt has dramatically dropped so they only do subsistence trapping for the family.”
Hester visited his 99-year-old mother after Katapatuk’s funeral. She told him stories about Katapatuk’s mischievous youth, including how he had driven a nail through his father’s canoe at Cabbage Willows, making a hole in the bottom. Hester had called for his local CTA to honour Katapatuk.
“I shook his hand to thank him,” said Hester. “In Cree, we say thank you for breaking the trail for us. He said I thank you too, you guys are doing a good job working for the people. That motivated me to do my best for the Cree trappers.”
With funding from Niskamoon Corporation and the CNG social and culture department, representatives from all local CTAs attended. While Cree hunters gather for CTA annual general assemblies each summer, this event helped community members learn more about land-based practices.
“Many were surprised at how to take care of a fur,” said Salt. “It was important to the schools – we had a good connection with the Cree School Board. When running an event, it’s important that we learn and pass on to the younger generations.”
Salt was also the first coordinator of the Eeyou Ituun (Cree knowledge) program, which started its third cohort in February. The 900-hour accredited program coordinated by the CTA in partnership with the Cégep de St-Félicien began with 17 students in Waskaganish in 2021.
Aiming to teach fundamental bush skills and traditional knowledge to younger generations, the program has delivered profound change for many of its participants despite occasional implementation challenges. Eeyou Ituun was cancelled in 2024-2025 due to challenges stemming from limited resources, personnel shortages and the impact of forest fires on operations.
“It was a challenge because when Covid hit, we had to postpone programs,” Salt explained. “When we continued during Covid, we had to stay in the bush for 40 days and 40 nights. It helped them with mental health and connecting with the culture. Some students said this is the first time I’m learning this.”
The program covers essential skills for bush survival, land-user safety and managing family traplines, including wildlife monitoring and land use negotiation. Each of its three sessions feature extensive harvest preparations and stints of autonomous camping. The first cohort’s experiences were beautifully recorded in three half-hour documentaries available on YouTube.
At the celebration March 11, CTA president Arden Visitor gave a welcoming speech before past graduates shared reflections and success stories. “We asked if they could talk but some were a little shy,” noted Salt.
The CTA supports other events promoting traditional skills, such as winter journeys and summer canoe brigades. From March 12 to 19, the CTA organized a harvesting excursion for youth from inland communities in Waswanipi, focusing on moose, beaver and small game.