Innu Nation court case disputing recognition of Indigenous status for NunatuKavut rescheduled

Although their day in court has been delayed, the Innu Nation says it'll be ready to call on the Canadian government to cancel a memorandum of understanding that recognizes members of NunatuKavut as Indigenous.

The court action, launched by the Innu Nation in 2019 around the same time the memorandum was signed, was scheduled to begin Wednesday. About an hour before a press conference scheduled by the Innu Nation to discuss Wednesday's court case, they learned it had been rescheduled.

"Even though the court case is rescheduled, our message is still the same," Innu Nation member Prote Poker said.

"Canada and the province of Newfoundland doesn't have the power to create a new aboriginal nation that never existed. The decision about the MOU ignored the constitution and standard legal practices.… Canada's decision harms Innu rights and the Inuit treaty process."

The NunatuKavut community council says it represents about 6,000 Inuit in central and southern Labrador, but Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national representative organization for the Inuit in Canada, disputes NunatuKavut's claims of Inuit identity. 

"We believe that the federal government [acted] irresponsibly in signing the MOU with NCC. Innu have been in Labrador for thousands of years. We would have known if there was an entirely different group of Inuit," Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation Chief Etienne Rich told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.

"There's no southern Labrador Inuit. And there never has been.… NCC, stop using your white privilege to take from the Innu. Stop pretending to be something that you are not."

In an emailed statement, the NCC says it isn't sure when the case will be heard but expect it to be within the next six months.

Innu Nation Grand Chief Simon Pokue said the NCC is taking Innu lands and rights through overlapping Indigenous land claims.

"They want to rewrite the history, and they want to recolonize us. So we will fight for it, and we'll continue to fight," Pokue said. "We'll continue to fight [for] our rights until we have our land claims settled, and to have a better future."

Innu Nation Deputy Grand Chief Chris Rich said he's fighting for future generations because NunatuKavut members are "snatching up" university scholarships for Indigenous people, reducing opportunities for Innu students.

"It's called identity fraud," he said.

"People of my generation, they're going to stop this from affecting our children."

In a second statement Tuesday evening, the NCC said it's looking forward to its day in court and denounced what it called "baseless allegations and intentional misinformation" tactics used by the Innu Nation.

"The notion that NCC is a new group is simply false and offensive to our youth, elders and to the memory of our ancestors. We are the descendants from generations of Inuit who have lived on our lands, ice and waters for hundreds of years," reads the statement.

The dispute between recognized Inuit groups and NunatuKavut goes back to at least 1991, when the NCC's forerunner, the Labrador Métis Nation, filed a land claim with the federal government.

The claim was rejected by both the provincial and federal governments, but it became active again in 2010 when the group renamed itself the NCC.

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