NunatuKavut

{{About|the proposed territory|the people who claim it|NunatuKavummiut}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}

{{use Canadian English|date=September 2024}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = NunatuKavut

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| type = Proposed autonomous area

| image_skyline = MarysHarb Aug 2006020.jpg

| image_alt =

| image_caption = The village of Mary's Harbour, in Southern Labrador

| image_flag = Flag of NunatuKavut.png

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| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Canada

| subdivision_type1 = Province

| subdivision_name1 = Newfoundland and Labrador

| established_title =

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| seat_type = Capital

| seat = Vâli, Labrador

| government_type = Proposed parliamentary democracy within the parliamentary system of Canada

| government_footnotes =

| leader_party =

| leader_title = President

| leader_name = Todd Russell (since 2012)

| blank_name_sec1 = Federal riding

| blank_info_sec1 = Labrador

| blank1_name_sec1 = Provincial riding

| blank1_info_sec1 = Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair and Lake Melville

| unit_pref = Metric

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| population_total = 2345

| population_as_of = 2007

| population_demonym = NunatuKavummiut

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| timezone1 = AST

| utc_offset1 = −04:00

| postal_code_type = Postal code prefix

| postal_code = A0P

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| iso_code = NL

| website = [http://www.nunatukavut.ca NunatuKavut.ca]

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{{Infobox ethnonym|people=NunatuKavummiut|language=Inuttitut;
Inuit Sign Language (Uukturausingit)}}

NunatuKavut ({{langx|iu|italic=no|ᓄᓇᑐᑲᕗᑦ}}) is a proposed NunatuKavummiut territory in central and southern Labrador. The region proposed by the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) extends from north of the community of Makkovik in Nunatsiavut to south of the community of Blanc-Sablon in Quebec. It also extends to the west as far as the border between Quebec and Labrador.{{Cite web |title=NunatuKavut traditional territory map |url=https://nunatukavut.ca/about/who-we-are/}} Previous submissions by the NunatuKavummiut (as the Labrador Métis Nation) included a secondary claim as far north as Nain, the northernmost community in Nunatsiavut.{{Cite news |title=Labrador's Métis Nation adopts new name |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-s-m%C3%A9tis-nation-adopts-new-name-1.927252}}{{Cite web |title=The Labrador Metis Nation v. Her Majesty in Right of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006 NLTD 119 (CanLII) |url=https://www.canlii.org/en/nl/nlsctd/doc/2006/2006nltd119/2006nltd119.html}}

According to the NCC, the NunatuKavut claimlands correspond to the historic land-use of the Southern Inuit.{{Cite web |title=Southern Inuit of NunatuKavut History |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/indigenous/southern-inuit-history.php}} The NunatuKavut Community Council is considered an Indigenous collective{{efn|The group has been described as an Aboriginal group and Aboriginal community by the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador, and as an Indigenous collective by a memorandum of understanding signed with the federal government.Newfoundland and Labrador v. Labrador Métis Nation, 2007 NLCA 75 (CanLII), at para 44, [https://canlii.ca/t/1v6mk#par44], retrieved on 2024-12-05 While recognized by the federal government as eligible to apply for Indigenous rights, the status of Indigenous collective does not grant such rights itself.}} which represents the descendants of mixed Inuit-European people from central and southern Labrador. While both the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples have concluded that the NCC represents a people with a credible but unproven claim to Indigenous rights,{{cite web | author=The Canadian Press | title=Self-identifying Inuit group to negotiate with federal government: court | website=National Post | date=June 13, 2024 | url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/self-identifying-inuit-group-court-ruling | access-date=September 23, 2024}}{{Cite web |date=2007 |title=Newfoundland and Labrador v. Labrador Métis Nation, 2007 NLCA 75 |url=https://www.canlii.org/en/nl/nlca/doc/2007/2007nlca75/2007nlca75.html}}{{Cite web |date=1996 |title=Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Volume 4. |url=https://data2.archives.ca/e/e448/e011188230-04.pdf}} at least three land claim submissions have been unsuccessful since it first applied in 1991.{{cite web | last=Passafiume | first=Alessia | title=NunatuKavut Community Council celebrates Federal Court decision in identity case | website=CityNews Ottawa | date=June 13, 2024 | url=https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2024/06/13/nunatukavut-community-council-celebrates-federal-court-decision-in-identity-case/ | access-date=September 23, 2024}}{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Innu Nation Inc. v. Canada (Crown-Indigenous Relations), 2024 FC 896 |url=https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2024/2024fc896/2024fc896.html}}

The NunatuKavut Community Council's claims have been opposed by other Indigenous groups in the region.{{cite web |date=November 10, 2023 |title=Statement on the Nunatukavut Community Council (NCC) |url=https://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/news/statement-on-the-nunatukavut-community-council-ncc/ |access-date=October 23, 2024 |website=Inuit Circumpolar Council}} The Innu Nation also includes portions of the proposed NunatuKavut territory in its own land claim.{{cite web | title=Inuit leader warns of Labrador group's 'illegitimate claims' to Inuit identity | website=CBC | date=May 12, 2023 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/natan-obed-nunatukavut-open-letter-1.7020059 | access-date=September 23, 2024}}{{cite web | title=Court dismisses Innu Nation challenge against recognition of disputed Labrador group | website=CBC | date=March 19, 2024 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/innu-nunatukavut-federal-court-mou-1.7233180 | access-date=September 23, 2024}}{{cite web | last=Rogers | first=Sarah | title=Inuit and Innu United Against False Claims of Indigenous Identity | website=Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami | date=March 19, 2024 | url=https://www.itk.ca/inuit-innu-united-against-false-claims-of-indigenous-identity/ | access-date=September 23, 2024}} The NCC signed a memorandum of understanding in 2019 with the Canadian government, but this in itself does not confer any Indigenous rights.{{cite web|url=https://rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100014187/1534785248701#sc1 |title=Inuit|date =June 18, 2021|publisher=Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada|access-date=February 24, 2023}}

History

=Early European contact=

The area was known as Markland in Greenlandic Norse and its inhabitants were known as the Skræling though there is considerable debate as to whether contact was made with Thule culture or Dorset culture. The Inuit and their ancestors had thus been using the coastal areas of south Labrador, at least on a seasonal basis, well before first contact with Europeans.The Story of Labrador by Bill Rompkey Publisher: Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-7735-2574-2}} DDC: 971.82 LCC: FC2149.4 Edition: (bound)

Archeological studies have also confirmed widespread Inuit occupation of the Sandwich Bay area over several centuries.{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9780887554193-005 |chapter=Southern Exposure: The Inuit of Sandwich Bay, Labrador |title=Settlement, Subsistence, and Change Among the Labrador Inuit |date=2012 |last1=Rankin |first1=Lisa |last2=Beaudoin |first2=Matthew |last3=Brewster |first3=Natalie |pages=61–84 |isbn=978-0-88755-419-3 }}{{cite journal |last1=Rankin |first1=Lisa K. |title=Identity markers: Interpreting sod-house occupation in Sandwich Bay, Labrador |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |date=2015 |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=91–116 |doi=10.7202/1036079ar |jstor=44090774 }}{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9780228019558-010 |chapter=6 Labrador Inuit at the Crossroads of Cultural Interaction |title=Before Canada |date=2024 |last1=Rankin |first1=Lisa K. |pages=193–220 |isbn=978-0-2280-1955-8 }} These findings confirm the continued presence of Inuit, living year-round in the areas south of Hamilton Inlet, from the early to mid-16th century until at least the late 19th century.{{cite journal |last1=Fitzhugh |first1=W.W. |title=A review of Paleo-Eskimo culture history in southern Quebec-Labrador and Newfoundland |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |date=1980 |volume=4 |issue=1/2 |pages=21–31 |jstor=42869795 }}{{cite journal |last1=Stopp |first1=Marianne P. |title=Reconsidering Inuit presence in southern Labrador |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |date=22 June 2004 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=71–106 |doi=10.7202/007646ar }}

The earliest recorded contact between Inuit and post-Nordic Europeans occurred in 1501, when the Anglo-Azorean expedition visited Labrador and took three Inuit to England.{{Cite web |last=Gosling |first=William |date=1910 |title=Labrador its discovery, exploration, and development |url=https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/cns2/id/84335/}} These Inuit were presented to Henry VII of England by Sebastian Cabot and were described as "clothed in beastes skinnes, who eat raw flesh". Ship records indicate explorers did not encounter Inuit in the southernmost portion of Labrador at the time, but the remains of sod houses and tent rings in Sandwich Bay suggest Inuit settlements already existed year-round in the coastal areas around this time.

In 1543, Basque whalers encountered Inuit in the Strait of Belle Isle with subsequent trade and conflict attested between these groups throughout the Basque occupation.{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9780228019558-008 |chapter=Sea Change: Indigenous Navigation and Relations with Basques around the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, ca. 1500–1700 |title=Before Canada |date=2024 |last1=Loewen |first1=Brad |pages=109–152 |isbn=978-0-2280-1955-8 }} The finding of historic Roman Catholic documents detailing Inuit-Europeans with Iberian names may indicate some unions occurred between these early visitors and the Indigenous people.{{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Greg |last2=Marguirault |first2=Ihintza |date=2018-08-08 |title=The Onomastics of Inuit/Iberian Names in Southern Labrador in the Historic Past |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NFLDS/article/view/28685/1882521460 |journal=Newfoundland & Labrador Studies |language=en |volume=33 |issue=1 |issn=1715-1430}}

In 1586, the first written evidence of Inuit settlements in the area was recorded, when a crew of explorers led by John Davies were attacked by Inuit living on the outer islands near Sandwich Bay.

{{Location_map+

|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador|relief=yes

| width = 355

| float = right

| caption = Map with the location of the main NunatuKavut communities

| places =

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Black Tickle | lat=53.451 | long=-55.747 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=right}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Cartwright | lat=53.708738| long=-57.015978 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Charlottetown | lat=52.7657 | long=-56.1453| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Lodge Bay | lat=52.230 | long=-55.848 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=bottom}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Port Hope Simpson | lat=52.53333 | long=-56.3| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Paradise River | lat=53.416638 | long=-57.233352 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=St. Lewis | lat=52.368611 | long=-55.6825| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Mary's·Harbour | lat=52.315278 | long=-55.833611| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=right}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=North West River | lat=53.52 | long=-60.144 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=top}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Happy Valley-Goose Bay | lat=53.3019 | long=-60.416 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=left}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Norman's Bay | lat=52.937 | long=-55.908 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=right}}

{{Location map~|Canada Newfoundland and Labrador| label=Mud Lake | lat=53.3055 | long=-60.1669 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=right}}

}}

Inuit expansion throughout southern Labrador occurred between the 1600s and 1700s and extended as far south as the Côte-Nord.{{Cite book |last=Fitzhugh |first=William |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34554/chapter/293201206 |title=Archaeology of the Inuit of Southern Labrador and the Quebec Lower North Shore |date=2016-08-03 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=Friesen |editor-first=Max |volume=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199766956.013.47 |editor-last2=Mason |editor-first2=Owen}}{{cite journal |last1=Fitzhugh |first1=William W. |title=Paradise Gained, Lost, and Regained: Pulse Migration and the Inuit Archaeology of the Quebec Lower North Shore |journal=Arctic Anthropology |date=January 2019 |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=52–76 |doi=10.3368/aa.56.1.52 }} In 1652, an Inuit community was recorded in what is now the Côte-Nord region of Quebec.{{cite web |url=http://www.nunatukavut.ca/home/files/pg/unveiling_nunatukavut.pdf |title=Unveiling Nunatukavut |first1=D. Bruce |last1=Clarke |first2=Gregory E. |last2=Mitchell |date=2010 |website=NunatuKavut Community Council |access-date=March 28, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328075057/http://www.nunatukavut.ca/home/files/pg/unveiling_nunatukavut.pdf |archive-date=March 28, 2019}} In 1659, Jacques Fremin described Cape St. Charles as an Inuit community. Louis Fornel named the area from Alexis Bay to Hamilton Inlet the "Coste des Eskimaux" in 1743 and claimed there were Inuit living around St. Michael's Bay ("Baye des Meniques"), Hawke Bay, Martin Bay and Hamilton Inlet. By 1750 Inuit no longer occupied the Côte-Nord, but were still living in southern Labrador and visited Chateau Bay for several more decades.{{cite journal |last1=Stopp |first1=Marianne P. |title=Faceted Inuit-European contact in southern Labrador |journal=Études/Inuit/Studies |date=April 2016 |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=63–89 |doi=10.7202/1036078ar }}

One well-studied sod house in Sandwich Bay was built in the mid- to late-19th century by an Englishman, Charles Williams, and his Scots-Inuit wife, Mary. The house exhibited both European and Inuit customs, and appears to have been inhabited until at least 1915.

=Post-1763: Creation of Labrador and European contact=

File:BattleHarbour Labrador 2008.JPG]]

File:Rivière Saint-Jean 03.jpg)]]

File:NFL in 1912.png

In 1763, Labrador was ceded to the Colony of Newfoundland. It included coastal area between the St. John's River and Cape Chidley and was meant as extra fishing grounds for Newfoundland fishermen. Labrador has been created using territory from the French colony of New France and the British colony of Rupert's Land. The inland boundary of Labrador was undefined until 1927, so Canada claimed the interior of Labrador as part of Quebec and the Northwest Territories while Newfoundland claimed that Labrador extended far inland. Labrador was ceded back to New France (now Lower Canada) and Rupert's Land in 1791 but then in 1809 it rejoined Newfoundland. In 1825 Blanc-Sablon and territory to the west was ceded to Lower Canada however this region (Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality) remains culturally close to NunatuKavut.{{Cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/blanc-sablon-fed-up-with-quebec-government-wants-to-leave-province-so-it-can-join-newfoundland-mayor-says |title=Blanc-Sablon fed up with Quebec government, wants to leave province so it can 'join Newfoundland,' mayor says |first=Peter |last=Kuitenbrouwer |date=August 20, 2014 |newspaper=National Post |access-date=March 28, 2020}}

In 1764, Jens Haven arrived at Quirpon, Newfoundland and to Chateau Bay. He was a missionary from the Moravian Church. Haven learned the Inuit language and explained to them that the Colony of Newfoundland wished to enter a peaceful relationship with them. Haven had previously worked in Greenland which is where he learned the Greenlandic language (which is a similar language to the Inuttitut language spoken by Labradorian Inuit). The Moravian Church set up missionary posts in northern Labrador since the British hoped to colonize the south. They restricted access by Europeans to territory between Cape Chidley and Cape Harrison which created a cultural divide between the Inuit of the north and the Inuit of the south.

On 21 August 1765, Labradorian Inuit reportedly signed a "Peace and Friendship Treaty" with Newfoundland Governor Hugh Palliser, on behalf of the British, in Chateau Bay.{{Cite web |date=2021-08-26 |title=NunatuKavut celebrates 1765 treaty that paved way for Labrador settlements |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatukavut-1765-treaty-1.6152549 |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=CBC}} Scholars currently disagree about whether the treaty was signed by Inuit permanently resident in the south or northern Inuit who travelled to the south on a temporary basis.{{efn|Stephen Hay supports the NCC assessment that the signees in Chateau Bay were Southern Inuit.Stephen Hay, "How to Win Friends and Trade with People: Southern Inuit, George Cartwright, and Labrador Households, 1763 to 1809," Acadiensis XLVI, no. 2 (Summer/Autumm 2017): 35-58. At the time, Palliser had described "4&5 hundred men, women and children ... in 24 skin tents" at Chateau Bay at the time, reportedly from a place called Arbatok, initially thought to lie near Hamilton Inlet. Rollman identified inconsistencies in where Arbatok was located, writing, "Although Arbatok may represent an authentic locale near Hamilton Inlet, it is very possible that an error was made, or that there were several localities with the same name". He suggests Hopedale, Newfoundland and Labrador as a possible alternative location. Stoop similarly suggests Arbatok was based near Hopedale, rather than Hamilton Inlet.Stopp, M. "The Spirit of Revolution on a Contested Coast: Sixteenth- to Eighteenth-Century Inuit Resistance and Dispossession in Southeastern Labrador, Canada." Hist Arch (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41636-024-00526-3Rollmann, H. J. (2013). "Hopedale: Inuit Gateway to the South and Moravian Settlement." Newfoundland & Labrador Studies, 28(2). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NFLDS/article/view/21497}} This treaty later formed the basis of the NCC's first unsuccessful application for the NunatuKavut claimlands. In its claim, the NCC stated the treaty was signed by southern Inuit, based on the meetings which took place in Chateau Bay between Palliser and Inuit families at the time.{{Cite web |title=British-Inuit Treaty Of 1765 |url=https://nunatukavut.ca/about/treaty-of-1765/ |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=Nunatukavut |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Boileau |first=John |date=2022-10-25 |title=British-Inuit Peace Treaty |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/british-inuit-peace-treaty |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=Canadian Encyclopedia}}{{Cite web |last=Pardy |first=Brandon |date=2012-06-21 |title=Aboriginal Treatise |url=https://theindependent.ca/view-from-the-mainland/aboriginal-treatise/ |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=The Independent |language=en-CA}}

=1800s: Intermarriage between Inuit and Europeans=

File:NEWFOUNDLAND RANGER'S DETACHMENT, BATTLE HARBOUR 25TH JULY 2002 Port Hope Simpson Off The Beaten Path Llewelyn Pritchard.jpg]]

File:Birchy Cove, Bay of Islands, Labrador, NL, 1908.jpg

In 1810, an Englishman named William Phippard married an Inuk woman named "Sarah" and they had a son. During this time some other English fishermen started marrying Inuit women as well. They were later joined by large numbers of fishermen from Conception Bay and Trinity Bay (who were mostly of English and Irish descent).{{Cite web |title=Metis : Labrador Virtual Museum |url=http://www.labradorvirtualmuseum.ca/home/metis.htm |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=www.labradorvirtualmuseum.ca}} Inuit did not use surnames until the time of colonization, and in southern Labrador over time many received European first names and surnames through intermarriage with Europeans. However, some Inuit first names were anglicized such as "Paulo", "Kippenhuck", "Shuglo", "Tuccolk", "Elishoc", "Alliswack", "Penneyhook", "Maggo", and "Mucko" and used as surnames. "Kippenhuck" and "Toomashie" are some of the only remaining Inuit surnames (excluding names of people that have moved to NunatuKavut from other places) still in use today.

In 1824, it was recorded that the population around Lake Melville (Esquimaux Bay) consisted of 160 Inuit, 90 European settlers and 60 "half-breeds" (people of European and Inuit descent).{{Cite web |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/aboriginal/southern-inuit.php |title=Southern Inuit of NunatuKavut: the Historical Background |date=1999 |first=John C. |last=Kennedy |website=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage |access-date=March 28, 2020}} Of marriages recorded between 1773 and 1891 in southern and central Labrador, it was shown that 152 married people were Inuit, 27 were European, 14 were mixed and 1 was Mi'kmaq while the ethnic origin of 26 people could not be identified.

=Post-confederation=

In 1946, the Dominion of Newfoundland conducted an election to choose delegates for the Newfoundland National Convention. This was the first time that an election was held in Labrador and Lester Burry of Bonavista Bay was elected to represent Labrador. Burry wanted the Dominion of Newfoundland to become a province of Canada and in 1949, Newfoundland became Canada's 10th province. Subsequently, the Kablunângajuit were incorporated into the recognized Inuit groups, but the Southern Inuit and Labrador Métis were not.{{Cite book |last1=Borlase |first1=Tim |title=The Labrador settlers, Métis and Kablunângajuit |last2=Way |first2=Patricia |date=1994 |publisher=Labrador East Integrated School Board, with assistance from the Canada Studies Foundation |others=Labrador East Integrated School Board |isbn=978-1-896108-02-5 |series=Labrador studies |location=Labrador, Nfld., Canada |pages=13}}

Before Canadian Confederation, most Inuit lived in small settlements of a few families in isolated harbours and on islands off the coast of Labrador. During the 1950s and 1960s many communities across the province were resettled to larger population centres as part of a provincial government-sponsored program. The collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery also had a huge impact on central and southern Labrador like it had on the province as a whole and many people left the province to find work elsewhere.{{Cite web |title=Impacts of Non-Indigenous Activities on Southern Inuit of NunatuKavut |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/indigenous/southern-inuit-impacts.php |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=www.heritage.nf.ca}} These groups were largely unrepresented until the 1980s, when the Labrador Métis Association (LMA) was established to represent the Southern Inuit and Labrador Métis.{{Cite web |title=Our Rights Recognition |url=https://nunatukavut.ca/about/rights-recognition/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=Nunatukavut |language=en}} Shortly after, the Labrador Métis Association submitted its first land claim. This was rejected in 1991.

In 1996, the then-Labrador Metis Association vigorously protested the KGY Group's proposed Eagle River fishing camp.{{cite web|url=https://ricochet.media/en/724/liberal-mps-claim-she-was-shot-at-during-indigenous-protest-questioned|title=Liberal MP's claim she was shot at during Indigenous protest questioned|first=Justin|last=Brake|date=November 3, 2015|access-date=October 27, 2020|website=ricochet.media}} The issue came up as a result of a decision by the provincial government in 1996 to call for proposals for the development of a quality sports fishing camp on the Eagle River in Labrador.{{cite web|url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/1996/gsl/0919n05.htm|date=September 19, 1996|publisher=Government of Newfoundland and Labrador - Government Services and Lands|access-date=October 27, 2020|title=Minister responsible for Labrador comments on Labrador Metis Association response to proposed Eagle River fishing camp}} Corner Brook based KGY Group (a non-aboriginal application) was selected over a Labrador company.{{cite web|url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/1996/gsl/0916n03.htm |date=September 16, 1996|publisher=Government of Newfoundland and Labrador - Government Services and Lands|access-date=October 27, 2020|title=Statement issued by Ernest McLean }} The Labrador Metis Association claimed Eagle River as a traditional salmon fishing area.{{cite web|url=https://nunatukavut.ca/site/uploads/2019/05/nunatukavut_newsletter_final_16_page_2_compressed.pdf|access-date=October 27, 2020|title=NunatuKavut On-the-Ground Action: Why the fight for our rights must continue|date=2013|work=NunatuKavut News}} For about nine days in 1996, hundreds of residents from Cartwright and nearby communities in the Sandwich Bay area kept a supply vessel and helicopter from delivering materials to the construction site. A joint Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Coast Guard operation arrested at least 47 residents involved in the protests and charged most of them with mischief. In June 1999, the Crown entered a stay of proceedings on all charges laid against members of the Labrador Metis Nation during the Eagle River protests.

In 1996, a report by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples stated that the Labrador Metis had all the features of a distinct Aboriginal group, and would be theoretically able to accept the rights and powers of nationhood. In 2006, LMN initiated a project with Memorial University of Newfoundland to study the historic presence of Inuit and Inuit-European communities in southern Labrador through the Community-University Research Association (CURA). Research by CURA suggests the Labrador Métis (as they were then known) are a continuation of the Inuit who inhabited southern Labrador.{{cite journal |last=Stopp |first=Marianne |date=2002 |title=Reconsidering Inuit presence in southern Labrador |journal= Études/Inuit/Studies|volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=71–106|doi=10.7202/007646ar }}

In 2007, the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador found that the Labrador Métis Nation had a "credible but [as yet] unproven claim" to Indigenous rights, which means the Crown has a duty to consult the group on Indigenous issues.{{Cite web |last=Forester |first=Brett |date=2023-11-09 |title=Métis and Innu nations back Inuit leader in Labrador identity dispute |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/m%C3%A9tis-innu-obed-nunatukavut-dispute-1.7024344 |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=CBC}}Newfoundland and Labrador v. Labrador Métis Nation, 2007 NLCA 75 (CanLII), https://canlii.ca/t/1v6mk#par13, published on 2007-12-12 (retrieved on 2024-12-04).

In 2010, Labrador Métis began calling themselves the Southern Inuit of NunatuKavut following a membership renewal process that required all members to submit proof of Inuit ancestry.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-s-m%C3%A9tis-nation-adopts-new-name-1.927252|title=Labrador's Métis Nation adopts new name|date=April 13, 2010 |publisher=CBC News|access-date=October 27, 2020 }} The organization changed its name to the NunatuKavut Community Council after the historic name of the Southern Inuit, the NunatuKavummiut.

NunatuKavut represents approximately 6,000 members covering a third of Labrador's landmass. Many residents of anglophone communities in northeastern Quebec (between the Natashquan River and the Strait of Belle Isle, sometimes called the "forgotten Labrador"{{Cite journal |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/242343 |title=The Forgotten Labrador: Kegashka to Blanc-Sablon (review) |first=Peter E. |last=Pope |date=July 18, 2008 |journal=The Canadian Historical Review |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=294–295 |doi=10.1353/can.0.0065|s2cid=162191344 |url-access=subscription }}) have a similar Inuit and European heritage as the people of NunatuKavut.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tourismlowernorthshore.com/culture.asp |title=Culture and Heritage |website=Tourism Lower North Shore |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613154705/http://www.tourismlowernorthshore.com/culture.asp |archive-date=June 13, 2008}}

In 2019, the NunatuKavut Community Council signed a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian Government.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-06 |title=NunatuKavut moves closer to self-governance with new agreement with federal government |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatukavut-self-governance-canada-1.5273455 |website=CBC}} This recognized them as an Indigenous collective, but did not in itself grant any Indigenous rights or land claims.{{Cite web |last=Flowers |first=Bill |date=2023-12-08 |title=The battle over Inuit identity in Labrador |url=https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/december-2023/inuit-identity-labrador/ |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=Policy Options |language=en}}{{cite news |title=NunatuKavut Inuit identity dispute has long history |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatukavut-inuit-identity-dispute-has-long-history-1.6369649 |access-date=June 25, 2024 |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=March 2, 2022}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-10-13 |title=Moving forward on self-determination: MOU between Canada and the NunatuKavut Community Council |url=https://www.canada.ca/errors/404.html |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=Government of Canada}} Both Innu and Inuit have criticized the Federal Government for its recognition of NCC.

==Lower Churchill project==

The NunatuKavut have been vocal in their opposition to the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project.{{cite news|title=NunatuKavut protesting against Muskrat Falls project|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatukavut-protesting-against-muskrat-falls-project-1.1197594|access-date=May 25, 2018|newspaper=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=September 27, 2012}}{{cite news |url=http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2012-09-17/article-3076486/NunatuKavut-says-it%26rsquo%3Bs-not-backing-away-from-the-Lower-Churchill-development/1 |title=NunatuKavut says it's not backing away from the Lower Churchill development |first=Ashley |last=Fitzpatrick |date=September 17, 2012 |newspaper=The Telegram |access-date=March 28, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006013322/http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2012-09-17/article-3076486/NunatuKavut-says-it%26rsquo%3Bs-not-backing-away-from-the-Lower-Churchill-development/1 |archive-date=October 6, 2012}}

==Flag==

In 2016, the NunatuKavut Community Council unveiled a proposal for its flag.{{cite web |url=https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CzzdznpUsAENsRk.jpg |title=Proposed NunatuKavut flag |website=PBS |access-date=March 28, 2020}} The flag was designed by Barry Pardy of Cartwright. According to NunatuKavut the flag {{quote|...reflects our Inuit history, culture and way of life. Its symbolism honours the historic and present role of women as culture carriers in our homes and communities.|NunatuKavut{{cite web|url=https://nunatukavut.ca/about/who-we-are/ |title=Our Flag |access-date=September 15, 2024}}}} The flag features an ulu with a qulliq on the blade. A traditional dog team with the dog sled carrying a Inuk and a seal is on the handle. The three main colours, green, blue, and white, represent the waters, lands, and sky along with snow and ice.

==Communities==

Organization

{{Main|NunatuKavummiut}}

In 1985, the Labrador Métis Association (LMA) was established to represent the NunatuKavummiut. In 1998, the LMA became the Labrador Métis Nation (LMN).{{Cite web |title=Land Claims of Southern Inuit of NunatuKavut |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/indigenous/southern-inuit-land-claims.php |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=www.heritage.nf.ca}} The NunatuKavummiut are today represented by the NunatuKavut Community Council, which was formed in 2010 from its predecessor, the LMN. This was partly to reflect its new membership criteria, partly to avoid confusion with the Métis Nation of West Canada, and partly to reflect the Inuit heritage of its members.{{cite news |date=2010-04-13 |title=Labrador's Métis Nation adopts new name {{!}} CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-s-métis-nation-adopts-new-name-1.927252 |access-date=2022-09-10 |periodical=CBC News}} The NCC is an associate member of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples along with other non-Status Aboriginal groups.{{Cite web |title=Affiliates |url=http://www.abo-peoples.org/our-affiliates/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105214336/http://www.abo-peoples.org/our-affiliates/ |archive-date=2012-11-05 |access-date=2012-11-29 |work=www.abo-peoples.org}}

In 1991, the Labrador Métis Association's first land claim was rejected. In 1996, a report by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples stated that the Labrador Metis had all the features of a distinct Aboriginal group, and would be theoretically able to accept the rights and powers of nationhood. In 2007, the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador found that the Labrador Métis Nation had a "credible but [as yet] unproven claim" to Indigenous rights, which means the Crown has a duty to a low level of consultation with the group on Indigenous issues.{{Cite web |last=Forester |first=Brett |date=2023-11-09 |title=Métis and Innu nations back Inuit leader in Labrador identity dispute |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/m%C3%A9tis-innu-obed-nunatukavut-dispute-1.7024344 |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=CBC}}Newfoundland and Labrador v. Labrador Métis Nation, 2007 NLCA 75 (CanLII), https://canlii.ca/t/1v6mk#par13, published on 2007-12-12 (retrieved on 2024-12-04). Since then, the NCC has engaged with a number of projects which affect the NunatuKavummiut, although this is limited by their lack of federal recognition.

In 2019, NCC president Todd Russell signed a memorandum of understanding with then Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister, Carolyn Bennett.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-10-13 |title=Moving forward on self-determination: MOU between Canada and the NunatuKavut Community Council |url=https://www.canada.ca/errors/404.html |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=Government of Canada}} The memorandum of understanding was a non-binding document that said, "Canada has recognized NCC as an Indigenous collective". This triggered a legal challenge by other Indigenous groups, which was dismissed on the basis that the memorandum of understanding was the start of a process towards potential federal recognition, and did not grant Indigenous rights in itself.{{cite news |title=NunatuKavut Inuit identity dispute has long history |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatukavut-inuit-identity-dispute-has-long-history-1.6369649 |access-date=June 25, 2024 |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=March 2, 2022}}{{Cite web |date=2019-09-06 |title=NunatuKavut moves closer to self-governance with new agreement with federal government |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatukavut-self-governance-canada-1.5273455 |website=CBC}}

As a part of its land claim, the NunatuKavut Community Council asserts that the Muskrat Falls and Lower Churchill hydroelectric project fall on their territory. The Lower Churchill hydroelectric project injunction was rejected in 2019 by the Newfoundland supreme court.{{Cite news|date=2019|title=La cause des Métis du Labrador sur le bas Churchill est rejetée |language=Fr |trans-title=The cause of the Métis of Labrador on the lower Churchill is rejected |work=Radio-Canada|url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/509189/metis-labrador-echec}}

The NCC is led by an elected council, including 16 councillors and four executives (a president, vice president, elder and executive member at large).{{Cite web |title=Governing Council |url=https://nunatukavut.ca/about/governing-council/ |access-date=2024-12-28 |website=Nunatukavut |language=en}}

Reactions

The legitimacy of the NunatuKavut Community Council's claim-lands has been disputed by the Nunatsiavut, Innu Nation and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, who maintain that the NCC and its members are not Indigenous.{{cite news |title=New film featuring legend of Sedna has hit Iqaluit theatre, but not everyone is happy with it |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/iqaluit-astro-theatre-sedna-empress-of-the-sea-1.6664828 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=November 26, 2022}}{{cite news |title=Nunatsiavut government claims 'cultural appropriation' in NunatuKavut's plans for Inuit curriculum |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatsivut-nunatukavut-language-1.6666426 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=November 28, 2022}} The Innu Nation and Nunatsiavut unsuccessfully challenged the federal government's memorandum of understanding with the NCC, which declared it an Indigenous collective.{{cite news |title=NunatuKavut's negotiations with Ottawa face another challenge, as Nunatsiavut enters the fray |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatsiavut-intervene-ncc-mou-1.5666503 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=July 29, 2020}} NCC president Todd Russell said the court action was a form of lateral violence.

Innu Nation grand chief Gregory Rich said the land claim significantly impinged upon "the land and rights of the Innu people".{{cite news |last1=Barker |first1=Jacob |title=Innu Nation asks federal court to quash NunatuKavut agreement with federal government |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/innu-nation-court-filing-nunatukavut-mou-1.5313083 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=October 8, 2019}} Former MP Peter Penashue said the NCC "sprung out of nowhere{{nbsp}}... to fight us over land".{{cite news |title=NunatuKavut Inuit identity dispute has long history |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nunatukavut-inuit-identity-dispute-has-long-history-1.6369649 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=March 2, 2022}} ITK president Natan Obed said that further recognition of the NCC's "unfounded" claims would weaken the negotiating authority of Inuit groups,{{cite news |last1=Cecco |first1=Leyland |title='We know who we are': Inuit row raises questions over identity and ancestry |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/24/canada-inuit-nunatukavut |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=The Observer |publisher=The Guardian |date=October 24, 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Careen |first1=Evan |title=Canadian Inuit organization says recognizing Labrador group would set 'disturbing precedent' |url=https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/canadian-inuit-organization-says-recognizing-labrador-group-would-set-disturbing-precedent-100645866/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=SaltWire |date=October 14, 2021}} and that there was no Inuit territory "outside of the four regions that constitute Inuit Nunangat".{{cite news |title=NunatuKavut community council accused of not being an Inuit organization, as identity tensions escalate |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/itk-letter-federal-government-exclude-nunatukavut-1.6209086 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=CBC News |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=October 14, 2021}}

For its part, the NCC has pointed to several successful court decisions to justify its claims. Further, the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report provided significant credibility for the NunatuKavummiut's claims of Inuit descent. There is growing scholarship on the history of the Inuit in southern Labrador.{{Cite web |title=Royal Commission White Paper on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada |url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/publicat/royalcomm/research/Hanrahan.pdf |access-date=2024-12-04 |work=Government of Newfoundland and Labrador}}Rankin, Lisa K. and Crompton, Amanda (2013). "The Labrador Metis and the Politics of Identity: Understanding the Past to Negotiate a Sustainable Future". International Journal of Heritage and Sustainable Development 3(1):71-79. The NCC has said it will work with other Inuit groups to resolve any overlaps in claim-lands, and said these organizations must come together "to ensure more positive outcomes for all our peoples".[https://nunatukavut.ca/about/rights-recognition/ "Our rights recognition"]. The NunatuKavut Community Council. Accessed on 2024-12-05.

See also

Further reading

  • [http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/document-eng.cfm?document=45225 Canadian Government: NunatuKavut Land Claim Document]
  • [http://www.labradormetis.ca/home/blog.php NunatuKavut Community Council Inc.]
  • [http://www.labradorvirtualmuseum.ca/home/inuit_history.htm Labrador Inuit History]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20121020031552/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=Comments&Params=a1ARTA0004437 Canadian Encyclopedia; Inuit presence in southern Labrador]
  • [https://www.gov.nl.ca/publicat/royalcomm/research/Hanrahan.pdf Royal Commission White Paper on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada]

References

{{Reflist}}

Footnotes

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