In Innu culture, as in that of other Indigenous nations, the cycle of life is symbolized by a circle formed by human beings and the stages of their existence, in harmony with their environment. Here's a legend that tells this unalienable journey.
It features a child who grows up curious about his origins. He sets off on a journey to find the "northern place" where he was born. The journey is planned by his parents, who will be waiting for him at the end of the pilgrimage. So he sets off alone, calling on an Elder for guidance. The salmon brought your parents," he told him. Follow the salmon trail and you'll find them.
The child sets off on an adventure, guided inland by a salmon. He boards a family canoe, then shares a camp with other Innu who are smoking fish at the foot of a waterfall. His salmon, however, jumped over the waterfall and ran off without waiting for him... A man carried him in a canoe, then left him after a portage with this advice: "Look around you. Salmon leave tracks on the rock when the river is low, revealing the path taken many moons ago."
The youngster sets off again, encouraged by some fishermen to go further up the river to find bigger salmon. Further north, the river gives way to a quiet stream. He meets up with other fishermen: his parents, whom he is delighted to see again.
The enigma of his birth remains, and his mother resolves it with these words: "Like the little salmon, you found your birthplace and your origins by following the river and listening to your heart. Nitassinan is where you come from. On this land, she adds, "every lake, every river, every path is your home". The child then learns that he is part of a nomadic people, canoeing inland in autumn and returning to the sea in spring... "just as the salmon do," concludes the mother, "and as you will do throughout your life, my boy".
