Nitassinan

The history of the Innu people has no beginning, but is a history which has been expressed in the relationship between the people and the land which they have inhabited for thousands of years. Their culture and their very identity was based upon the patterns of the seasons and the game on which they relied. But with the ill-treatment of the Innu at the hands of the Europeans and Euro-Canadians, and in particular the settling of traditional nomadic communities as recently as the 1950's and 60's, the Innu have been robbed of their land, and with it their self respect. Unemployment, depression, and increasingly suicide, alcoholism and substance-abuse have threatened to swamp these communities. Not only do the Innu have to contend with their own social disintegration, but with callous and ignorant treatment. As Hank Shouse, former mayor of Goose Bay said: "They [the Innu] have been here for 9000 years and they still can't earn their own living." Nitassinan chronicles the fight of the Innu to reclaim their ancestral homeland from industrial interests such as the huge nickel mine at Voisey's Bay, as well as their ongoing struggle against the low-flying aircraft from the NATO base at Goose Bay. Coming into open conflict with the authorities for their resistance to the base, many Innu have been, and continue to be arrested. Innu activists have even taken their demonstrations to Ottowa in the attempt to draw attention to their plight and their willingness to defend their land. More than anything, Nitassinan is the story of a people threatened with extinction, trying to take control of their own lives and regain their self-respect. While the politicians in Ottowa seem willing to sacrifice the Innu in the interests of developing 'Crown Lands,' there is rising support, both in Canada and beyond, for hearing and dealing with the interests and concerns of the Innu. Like all Canada's First Nations, the Innu have to contend with the reality of modern Canada, a nation which is both alien and alienating to them. But although many Innu, like other native Canadians, live in confusion and despair, many are increasingly turning away from the hopelessness of their settlements and attempting to renew their relation to the land through extended trips into the bush to hunt and fish. Nitassinan shows that behind the media coverage of suicide and despair which has characterized most Canadians' views of the Innu homeland, there are many committed and courageous Innu who are fighting for the very future of the Innu as a people. In order to retain and renew their continuity with the past, these men and women are showing, through their words and actions, an appreciation of the land which sustained them for thousands of years. With this comprehensive introduction to recent developments, Marie Wadden offers a sympathetic view without sentimentality, of a people's ongoing struggle for self-determination and recognition. (Jessica Anderson)