A Number of Things by Jane Urquhart

Author:Jane Urquhart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2016-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

Innu Tea Doll

I CAN RECALL BEING GIVEN ONLY ONE PRACTICAL toy as a child—a small red snow shovel that I loved fiercely, though I doubt my acts of snow clearing were all that effective. It is still in my possession, however, and has proved handy in my adulthood for getting at those odd narrow areas between the rises of steps or underneath the railings of verandas. But it is undeniably prosaic.

Especially when compared with a toy like the utilitarian and beautiful Innu tea doll.

The Innu of northern Quebec and eastern Labrador are one of the last remaining nomadic, tribal hunting-gathering peoples who, until a few decades ago, possibly because of the remoteness of their territory, were able to thrive in the vast area known to them as Nitassinan, or “the land.” Following the caribou—and being dependent on that animal for food, shelter, and clothing—meant travelling great distances on the one hand and developing well-honed hunting skills on the other. Harvested from a low, shrub-like rhododendron species that grows on the tundra, tea was considered to be both energy-providing and medicinal. These small dolls—no two alike—redolent with personality and expression, were stuffed with tea leaves and transported in the hands of children, who played with them and loved them. When it came time to make tea, the doll’s side was opened, the leaves were taken out, and the cloth was stitched back together again. When the tea was gone, the doll was stuffed with leaves and grasses until more tea leaves could be found.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.