Their growl can best be described as a cross between a lion’s roar and the engine of a small plane - it’s a startling sound to hear when you’re walking alone in the woods and no doubt adds to the creature’s mystique. They are also known to be ferocious, with a bark as bad as their bite. They have small ears, a stubby nose and sharp teeth, as well as sharp semi- retractable claws. Adult males can weigh up to 14 kilograms, and adult females can weigh up to nine kilograms. If you see a wolverine in the wild, consider yourself lucky - they tend to avoid areas inhabited by people, have an extremely low population density and are most active from dusk to dawn when most people are asleep.Īlthough they resemble small bow-legged bears with bushy tails, wolverines are actually the largest members of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers and otters. They have been known to steal bait from traps, ransack cabins and elude hunters. Though reclusive, these animals are also renowned for being curious and sneaky. It is not difficult to determine where the idea of the wolverine being a trickster comes from.

In their tent at night, the young people are eager to hear the stories of Kuekuatsheu. But that all changes when they are on the Land. She notes that when she is in her community with her grandkids, they’re less interested in hearing the stories of the wolverine. “My grandparents said that when the Innu people started dying and leaving the country, Kuekuatsheu left with them,” Poker explains. Poker says she remembers her grandparents telling her stories of how Kuekuatsheu would steal food from their camp. Elders still talk of him as if they know him personally, as if they witnessed his antics themselves. Either way, it’s guaranteed that he’s getting into mischief.įilmmaker Christine Poker, who comes from the Innu community of Natuashish in northern Labrador, grew up hearing stories around the tent stove about the conniving Kuekuatsheu, the name for the wolverine in her language of Innu-aimun.įor the Innu, Kuekuatsheu is more than just a character in a story he is almost a part of the community. Sometimes the wolverine is a hero, saving Innu families from vicious cannibals other times he’s a scoundrel tricking both the Innu and his fellow animals. In Innu culture, the wolverine is a trickster, the central character in many dramatic capers.

Trickster animals