The 1993 Report recommended that the Government “make a commitment to the expeditious relocation of the Mushuau Innu to a site chosen by them.” Details of the relocation of the Mushuau Innu in 1967 from the mainland to the site of the present village of Davis Inlet on Iluikoyak Island, the lack of running water and sewage facilities, the substandard conditions of the houses, the isolation from traditional caribou hunting grounds and the associated community dysfunction were set out in the 1993 Report. The conditions were later described in the Report on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples as akin to conditions in the poorest of developing countries. Fatal fires, suicides, substandard living conditions, substance abuse and poor health brought the community to national and international attention and continue to do so.
On 8 June 1993 the Mushuau Innu voted overwhelmingly in favour of relocation to Little Sango Pond (Natuashish), which is located on the mainland of Labrador 15 kilometres from their current island site at Davis Inlet. The 1994 Statement of Political Commitments endorsed relocation, stating that the Government was prepared to “support relocation of the Mushuau Innu to Little Sango Pond.”
Detailing the reports of the move from Davis Inlet to Natuashish, it illustrates the disparaging conditions at their previous settlement. It blames the community dysfunction on the substandard conditions and removal from traditional cultural activities, therefore making a move to the mainland about far more than just new homes, but a re-connection to their traditions.
The full 2002 report can be read at http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/pdf/reports/innureport2002.pdf
McRae,
D. & Backhouse, C. (2002). Report to
the Canadian Human Rights Commission on the Treatment of the Innu in Labrador
by the Government of Canada. Accessed online at http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/pdf/reports/innureport2002.pdf
on November 14, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment