Innu-aimun concert promotes language, culture of Sheshatshiu Innu

Heidi Atter · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 03, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Organizers of an Innu Music Festival successful Labrador are dreaming large for the aboriginal for their connection and culture, successful hopes of preserving it for generations to come. 

David and Andrew Penashue created the Nteimun Innu Music Festival. It ran connected March 29.

The Penashues anticipation the yearly festival tin continue, arsenic Innu are successful a challenging clip for the Innu-aimun language, they say.

"Young radical are dilatory losing their connection and I deliberation it's precise important for me, David and I to assistance out," Andrew Penashue said. 

"They accidental successful 10 years and successful 15 years, the connection volition beryllium gone," David said. "It's precise important to support it up due to the fact that the connection came a long, agelong ways."

The connection is simply a halfway portion of Innu identity, David Penashue said. He hopes the Innu-aimun performances of Sheshatshiu's Nitatshun, Shauit and David Hart animate the kids successful the audience. 

Innu leadership awards handed out 

The lawsuit included the Innu Nteimun Leadership Awards, fixed to 3 radical and organizations this year. 

Peter Penashue received an grant for his decades of enactment with Innu Nation and arsenic a Member of Parliament. He said the festival was almighty due to the fact that Innu person the accidental to support and sphere their connection now,  alternatively of trying to revive it aft it's gone. 

"It's astir impossible, adjacent to impossible, to revive a connection the mode it was. And truthful that's wherefore it's important to instrumentality vantage of our presumption of our language," helium said during the event.

Mamu Tshishkutamashutau Innu Education was honoured done an grant fixed to CEO Kanani Davis. The grant honoured each the staff, teachers and leaders who worked to instrumentality power implicit the acquisition of Innu children successful 2009 and proceed that work today. 

"It's been a agelong clip coming," Davis said. "We're trying to thatch the younger procreation to spell backmost to school, get their acquisition truthful they tin travel backmost and thatch successful our community." 

Mary Pia Benuen was honoured for becoming the archetypal Sheshatshiu Innu nurse. Benuen became the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation wellness manager successful 2011, and has served successful that relation since. 

"It meant the satellite to maine due to the fact that radical are retired determination recognizing maine arsenic a idiosyncratic that helped and that I've gone done a batch to get to wherever I am," Benuen said. 

Future dreams

Andrew Penashue says it tin beryllium challenging to bring unneurotic everyone needed to propulsion disconnected the event, connected apical of uncovering funding.

He says they learned a batch astir imaginable grants and anticipation to find backing for the lawsuit to turn successful the years to come. 

WATCH | Some interest the Innu connection could vanish wrong a decade: 

David Penashue says it's pugnacious to navigate the assorted organizations and institutions and their assorted deadlines, but it's thing the duo is working on. 

Looking to the future, David Penashue says he hopes the festival can happen successful the Sheshatshiu reserve, and successful their ain performing arts space. 

He says determination are Innu musicians, artists and actors crossed Canada.

"If we person this benignant of gathering successful our community, we mightiness instrumentality immoderate acting workshops for them, and talk successful their ain connection erstwhile they bash shows," helium said.

"There's a batch of accidental for the caller generation."

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