Native Ways of Temagami:

historical and modern survival gear and skills, crafts and spiritual items of Native culture

Creative Commons License Original photographs are licensed under Creative Commons License.

Temagami snowshoe Canoe on runners
from Temagami Times, archive of Gloria Katt
Winter wear
from Historical Map of Temagami by Craig MacDonald. Scan from map belonging to Doug Turner.

Making of a Toboggan

The Anishnaabe word for it is nobugidaban, from nobug, flat, and daban, drag, "Toboggan" is a French mispronunciation of the word.
Old Tobogan
Old nobugidaban - a prototype 		Getting wood fornobugidaban
Getting wood (birch) for boards 		Prepared timber for nobugidaban
Timber is split to make boards
Boards are ready for a nobugidaban
Boards are ready 		Making of a tnobugidaban
Bending and arranging boards
Tobogan is ready
nobugidaban is ready!
Courtesy of Alex Mathias of Obabika Lake

Utapanashku - the Innu toboggan

Making a handle for an axe

Courtesy of Sevan and Alex Mathias
Tools for making

Winter beaver trap in a river

Courtesy of Alex Mathias of Obabika lake.
Beaver trap setup Beaver trap view Trapping a beaver

Skinning a beaver

Courtesy of Alex Mathias
Skinning beaver Skinning beaver


Artifacts from Obabika lake

Artifacts from Obabika lake Obabika lake beach
Alex Mathias found these arrowheads and projectiles on the beach of Obabika lake near his homestead. Age estimation was done by an archeologist. Courtesy of Alex Mathias.

Crafts and items from the cabin of Alex Mathias of Obabika lake

Courtesy of Alex Mathias.
walking stick and medicine bag
Walking stick, medicine bag
and a fan from partridge tail 		birchbark mask
Mask from birch bark made by Alex.
cedar bark drum
Alex made this drum from an old cedar tree. 		Alex Mathias
Ceremonial headdress, jacket from deer hide, walking stick and a pipe.

Traditional structures

sweat lodge sweat lodge
Sweat lodge on Obabika lake: rocks are heated and brought inside
ice house
Ice house: blocks of ice are stored inside all summer

Courtesy of Alex Mathias

Dreamcatchers from Obabika

Dreamcatcher Dreamcatcher Dreamcatcher
Courtesy of Alex Mathias

A knife from a moose bone.

driftwood, leather stripe, split and sharpened moose thigh bone - by N.K.
moosebone knife moosebone knife
Sharp enough to cut paper, bark, meat, scrape hide.

Moccasins from moose hide

moosehide moccasins
Uppers: moosehide, sole:double moosehide, deer hide , liner: raccoon pelt - by N.K.

cedar leaf
This is what I came across while living on Bear island and in Temagami in 2003-2005 by the Grace of the Great Mystery and due to good will and sharing of the following Anishnabai:
Alex Mathias, Leo Paul, Tom Friday, Mary Katt, Woody Becker, Gloria Katt, Doug Turner, Gwen Katt and many others.

EmailNeodim Kollobok. Temagami, 2002-2005. Neodim
Last updated: January of 2006


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