Screening of documentary Télesh Métatash, Queen of the Woods

As part of the year-long programming for the exhibition Indigenous Voices of Today: Knowledge, Trauma, Resilience, the McCord Stewart Museum presents the documentary Télesh Métatash, Queen of the Woods, with director Nikol Brunet.

Télesh Métatash, Queen of the Woods

Canada | 2019 | 48 min | French

For most Innu, Télesh is a legend. The Innu of the North Shore and a number of other Indigenous communities know her without ever having met her. She’s called the Queen of the Woods. But who is this grand lady who lives in the forest in the traditional way, as did her elders? Does she really exist?

Télesh is the eldest of 11 children. She didn’t have the benefit of a Jesuit education, as her brothers and sisters did. She always lived with the adults, in the hunting and trapping territories. Her life story is marked by devotion to her family and the traditional way of life.

Still today, Télesh has maintained her way of life, that of her youth and of her elders. Having become a legend in spite of herself, her example is cited on the North Shore and as far away as Montreal. Now 89 years old, she is the last known Innu to maintain her traditional way of life on a permanent basis. Living in a tent for most of the year, she hunted, fished and trapped alone until the age of 84.

Our journey into the heart of the ancestral forest explores the simplicity of her contentment. We are her guests. Our journey is marked by moments from her busy daily life, from the toils of subsistence to the contemplation of life as it is. We come to know her and spend singular moments in her company. We discover her way of living, her habits, her talents and laughter, her solitude. We stay with her for a while, just long enough to fall under her spell.

Information

• Activity in French, presented Wednesday, April 2, 2025, screening at 6 p.m.
  Limited seating, reservations required
• Duration: 2 hours
• Location: J. Armand Bombardier Theatre at the McCord Stewart Museum

Is the activity you’re interested in fully booked? Show up 15 minutes early to get on the waitlist. Places may become available before the start of the activity.