Music of the Algonkians: Woodland Indians: Cree, Montagnais, Naskapi

For the Cree, Montagnais, and Naskapi hunters whose songs are represented on this album, success in hunting was crucial because for a time it provided the only means of subsistence. Hunters treated their hunting trips with great devotion and seriousness. Before heading off to hunt, the men would sing songs that had originated in or described dreams they had of the location of game and of their success; all songs, having materialized in dream, were personal and no hunter sang another’s song. Presented here is a collection of personal hunting songs recorded on an Indian settlement in Scheffervilee, P.Q., Canada in 1964.