Honouring the caribou, in dreams and memories from an Innu singer-songwriter

Florent Vollant is an Innu singer-songwriter from Maliotenam, a First Nations reserve in Quebec. In this short documentary, he reflects on how his dreams and, in turn, his music are intertwined with the deep-rooted Innu tradition of hunting caribou. Being one of the last Canadian Indigenous groups to settle into villages, the Innu people lived as nomadic hunters for thousands of years in modern-day Eastern Quebec and Labrador. As Vollant fingerpicks his acoustic guitar, he tells the story of his first caribou hunt with deep respect and empathy for the animal, which, like the Innu, has seen its population dwindle and its once free-roaming spirit confined. Through this story, he makes a poignant connection between the interdependence of the caribou and the Innu language and culture.