In northern Québec, the innus (montagnais) codified their pharmacology in the form of legends and myths. Based on oral tradition, they could recall the propreties of natural remedies, various solutions to specific health hasards, or ways to obtain them.

More so, their semantic vocabulary and the constitution of specific words is directly linked to this whole zoographic knowledge of animals and plants. Even if specific people forgot some information, the very words of their language could be understood as zoobotanical properties. To many ethnologists, this semantic classification is a form of scientific, rationalized classification of plants, animals and their properties. The process of this field of knowledge included comparative analysis and discrimination along certain criterias that resulted in a complex classification. This system took into account internal and external aspects of animals and plants, their usefulness to the community, etc. Then, complex and contextual knowledge was transmitted in the form of myths and stories, in order to remember and pass along the information. It also took in new observations and adapted with time. Meanwhile, outdated information kept being transmitted only in myths, but no longer understood as useful.

It is interesting to note that in this case, since knowledge was not written down, myths were used as a repository. It is quite logical, since an important function of a myth is reflexivity. More so, it places this knowledge outside the realm of religious inspiration. It is simply that myths must adapt to the form taken by empiric knowledge, as a kind of mnemotechnic tool. The repetition of myths assured the existence of a common repository of ecologic knowledge.

Source: Daniel Clément, la zoologie des montagnais (1995)