Narrative of Mrs. Alice Verreault 1935 Somewhere on the Mistassini River
Five families went with them (including them). There were the families of Charles Verreault (father), William Etienne, Simon Jourdain, Pierre Jourdain and the Bossums.
By car to Girardville. Pierre Doucet of Girardville and Tommy Robertson of Pointe-Bleue were the suppliers of provision and money. His father (Charles Verreault) went; the baggage by canoe and at the pole.
Alice Verreault and her mother followed them in another canoe. They had two 16 foot canoes. They tended the hare traps and fished with nets. The fish they caught were: white fish, pike and yellow pike. They fished and in the evening they smoked the fish to conserve it for during the cold season. They also killed partridge and duck. The plant used often by them was the service tree (mashkamenanatuk) they used it to make a tisane.
After a few sleeps, the families of Pierre and of Simon Jourdain left the Verreault Family to go to their respective territories that are near Swan Lake (Lac des Cygnes).
Arrived on the 11th campsite: of Passeshtakan: crossing portage, Mrs. Alice Verreault mentioned that this location was that of an ancient cache and a burial place of a child who had been killed with a gun shot. This is a 4 day campsite for transporting baggage.
Near to this location, there is a small lake where they went with a net for catching white fish.
The next campsite was another dispersion site. The William Etienne and Bossum families left for their ancestral territories.
The Verreault Family, in their turn, went to their territory. They had to transport their baggage across 8 portages, to arrive at their campsite for autumn and winter. In the small lakes around, there are wonderful trout. At their main site, for the seasons mentioned, they hunted bear to collect the bear fat and meat. There were no Canadians in the area formerly.
There was no beaver. Before starting to hunt and trap, she (Alice) and her father went to pitch their tents, 4 in number, on each side of the area they visited that year. This area was used only in the winter. About a month was spent in the main campsite, Alice and her father started hunting and trapping for fur animals. They trapped mink, otter, lynx and fox. The territory was located between the Nestaocano River and the Mistassini River. Her mother (Catherine) stayed at the main campsite to attend to her affairs. Adrienne Verreault and his brother came to visit her.
During the winter, they made a road with snowshoes to connect the four campsites mentioned. The same animals were trapped. There was not much small game in this zone, nevertheless they hunted and trapped there.
In the spring, the coveted fur animals were otter and muskrat (no beaver).
Formerly, the terrain was used for hunting by her grandfather and great grandfather.
Before leaving, they made a cache to leave provisions, shovels, snowshoes, traps and other things. This cache was covered with bark at their main campsite.
From Girardville, they ordered a truck from Pointe-Bleue to be able to return.
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