Film screening Ush – The Canoe of Shapatesh-Manek Bellefleur
Presented by Eddy Malenfant and Productions Manitu Mani-Utenam inc., Ush – The Canoe of Shapatesh-Manek Bellefleur, a 24-minute film, will be screened continuously in the youth room on March 2nd, 2025. This will be a free screening accessible to all.
Film screening from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM.
Special at 2:30 PM : family conference – making a traditional Innu canoe with Eddy Malenfant in attendance.
Date : Sunday, 2 March 2025
Time : 2:30 p.m.
Refreshments and snacks will be served.
Cost : Free for all
EXHIBITION
Launch : 2 March at 2:30 p.m.
In Innu-aimun (Innu language), “ush” means “canoe”. It is at the core of Innu culture. Before even thinking of entering their land, an Innu had to make a canoe perfectly suited to their size. As an invaluable tool, it had many uses, including for subsistence and transporting equipment. Traditionally, it was made of tree bark. In 2005, Jean-Baptiste Bellefleur, also known as Shapatesh-Manek, made one the same way his ancestors did, under the fine eye of Eddy Malenfant.
Shapatesh-Manek Bellefleur
“I was a child. To take away my fear, at night, I was asked to listen out for the noises in the woods. For example, branches crackling in the cold, or two trees rubbing together; for me, it was as if someone was whistling at me.”
Shapatesh-Manek Bellefleur died in 2024. He was 84. Born in Unamen Shipu on the Basse-Côte-Nord, in Québec, Shapatesh never went to a residential school; he was one of the rare people who was able to continue living the traditional life while other youth left the community for the residential school in Mani-Utenam. Shapatesh learned a lot from his culture. As one of the only youth who could accompany the Elders into the forest, he was taught a lot of things.
He was taught about the land and the ways to move around it. He was taught fishing, hunting, shelter building, as well as making canoes, snowshoes, a sled, etc. Later, he would give traditional snowshoe and canoe making classes in many Innu communities. Through his father Penashue, a traditional drum player, and his mother Madeleine, guardian of the drum, Shapatesh was raised around a traditional way of life and would later become a traditional drum player himself.
Eddy Malenfant : an artisan of Innu memory and culture
A commitment to Innu culture
Since its inception, Productions Manitu has taken on the mission of promoting Indigenous knowledge through cinema, television and digital platforms. One of the company’s first projects was producing the very first music video of famous Innu group Kashtin. Eddy Malenfant and his team have since produced more than 50 audiovisual documents, helping to preserve and disseminate the collective Innu memory.
In partnership with the NFB and the Musée de la Côte-Nord, he has also worked on large-scale digital projects, including the Nametau innu (“Knowledge and memory of the land”) website, which is part of Canada’s digital museum network.
A creator of educational and digital tools
Over the years, Eddy Malenfant has been able to adapt his approach to the digital age, developing a collection of e-books in French, English and Innu, available on iTunes. These interactive books cover essential Innu culture topics, such as Traditional innu drum, Innu snowshoes, and The innu canoe . His work has helped democratize access to Indigenous knowledge and raise awareness among a broad audience.
A filmography devoted to knowledge transfer
Through a rich filmography, he has explored various aspects of Innu identity and heritage. Here are some of his prominent productions :
- Innu assi, a documentary featuring the Innu communities of Québec and Labrador.
- Pakatakan (The Portage Road), which recounts nomadic life on traditional Innu land.
- Innu, which follows the initiatory journey of a young boy raised by his grandparents in accordance with Innu tradition.
- Sous le shaputuan, a documentary on encounters between Quebecers and Indigenous people to better understand First Nations realities.
- Nukum, a documentary series where a grandmother teaches her granddaughter about the traditional knowledge of childbirth in different Indigenous nations.
Eddy Malenfant is a major contributor to the preservation and dissemination of Innu culture through audiovisual and multimedia works. These productions, often broadcast on channels like APTN and Savoir média, have helped amplify the voice of the Innu people on the national and international stage.
A living heritage
Nowadays, Eddy Malenfant pursues his commitment by making Productions Manitu’s audiovisual archives available on the Web at . This initiative is proof of his eagerness to pass on the narratives, know-how and spirituality of the Innu nation to the new generations, by integrating them into contemporary formats.
In short, Eddy Malenfant is much more than a producer or filmmaker–he passes on memories, builds bridges between cultures and is a key figure in the preservation of Innu intangible heritage. Through his work, ancestral traditions continue to live, be shared and resonate far beyond the borders of the Côte-Nord.
(Photo credit: @ProductionManitu)
Learn more:
histoireinnue.ca
Productions Manitu (Mani-utenam) inc.: eddy@maikan.com