A Shaputuan Built on Parliament Hill to Celebrate Guardians
October 30, 2023
About 40 First Nations Guardians joined Indigenous leaders in front of the shaputuan before the reception with Members of Parliament and Senators on November 1, 2023.
Over 160 First Nations Guardians Programs are now caring for lands and waters across the country. To honour this stewardship, the Indigenous Leadership Initiative and the Honourable Michèle Audette, Senator, arranged to build a shaputuan—a 100-foot-long, heated space that can accommodate 120 people—on November 1 on Parliament Hill.
The shaputuan will offer a positive, Indigenous space on the Hill to showcase the benefits that Guardians programs generate for lands and waters, health and wellbeing, job creation and regional economies, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation, and Canada as a whole.
The Significance of the Shaputuan
The shaputuan is a traditional gathering space used by the Innu People across what is now known as the Quebec-Labrador Pennisula. Some Cree and Naskapi People also use similar structures. In Innu-aimun, the word shaputuan means “you walk through it,” because there was a door at either end. This specific shaputuan has been modernized to fit the needs of this event – such as moving the doors to facilitate our use.
For the Innu, the shaputuan is a place to hold dances, weddings, celebrations of life, and sacred ceremonies, including one in respect for the caribou after a harvest. It is also where Innu politics are conducted—a space to bring forward ideas and discuss them together.
Materials for the Shaputuan
In the past, shaputuans were covered in caribou hide. A 100-foot shaputuan might require as many as 80 caribou hides. Along the George River, where caribou were once plentiful, some shaputuans extended to 200 feet, with room enough for four fire rings inside.
Now that caribou herds are in decline, shaputuans are built using canvas.
Regardless of what they are made of, shaputuans require resources, time, and work to assemble, so they are built for significant occasions. Coming together in celebration of Guardians is one of them.
Building a Shaputuan on Parliament Hill
Parliament sits on unceded Indigenous lands where many Indigenous structures have been built over the years. As far as we know, this is the first shaputuan to be erected on the Hill.
Since we will be gathering to talk about our responsibilities to the land and water and about our ethic of stewardship, we want these conversations to be as close to the ground as possible. The shaputuan provides an Indigenous space in the heart of Canada’s government—a place where we can foster respectful dialogue and honour the contributions Guardians make to the country of Canada.
