The Sakawiyiniwak (Northern Bush Cree) art of Moose Butchering

I have been joining Helen Noskiye, Bigstone Cree Nation member, from Chipeywan Lakes in northern Alberta, Canada and her family members on moose hunting trips since around 2015. Helen has explicitly asked me to film their moose hunting trips “from the time the bullet leaves the gun to when the moose meat is drying on a rack”. She is interested in having good butchering practices recorded along with the intricate nehiyawewin (Cree) names for the different phases and sexes of moose along with their body parts. This is an ongoing effort and I’m always excited to join these knowledgeable hunters. Moose are a cultural keystone species for sakawiyinwak, and people are increasingly concerned about the safety, population, and health of moose in Bigstone Cree Nation territory. This concern is a result from ubiquitous oil extraction and aggressive logging in the boreal forest. Of particular anxiety for Elders, hunters, and plant users is the spraying glyphosate by forestry companies to suppress plants that compete with reforestation seedlings. Many of these plants are important foods and medicines for humans and moose. We are collaborating on a community-based monitoring project on moose and water, funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada, where we sample for moose health and microbiology and we are adding pesticide sampling in 2022.