Innu Nation disputes Canada's recognition of NunatuKavut in Federal Court

Outside a downtown Ot‐ tawa courtroom on Wednesday, Elder Elizabeth (Tshaukuesh) Penashue speaks slowly but passion‐ ately in the language of her Innu ancestors.

Inside, lawyers for the In‐ nu Nation of Labrador were making their case against federal recognition of a group they say is falsely claiming Indigenous identity.

"I feel like the government is trying to kill off the Innu. That's the way I feel," Pe‐ nashue said through inter‐ preter Anastasia Qupee.

"Now we have another group the government wants to recognize but I feel like the government wants to kill the Innu off. And this is why we're here. We're going to fight."

The elder's comments highlight what the Innu feel is at stake as the dispute over land, rights and identity in

Labrador ramped up this week in the capital.

Innu leaders are con‐ testing a 2019 memorandum of understanding in which the Canadian government recognized NunatuKavut Community Council as an "In‐ digenous collective."

Penashue joined an Innu delegation flown in by char‐ tered plane to witness the Federal Court hearing nearly five years in the making.

"They are settlers," said Innu Nation Grand Chief Simon Pokue outside the courtroom.

"They are using the Inuit identity to present them‐ selves but to me, this is fraud."

The Innu Nation com‐ prises two First Nations com‐ munities in Labrador: She‐ shatshiu and Natuashish. They never signed a treaty with the Crown and had a land claim accepted for nego‐ tiation in 1978.

NunatuKavut represents 6,000 self-identified Inuit in south and central Labrador. The group identified as Métis between 1986 and 2010. The government rejected NunatuKavut and its Métis predecessor's land claim four times.

NunatuKavut hailed the MOU as a step forward, and NunatuKavut President Todd Russell, a former Liberal MP, was eager to get his day in court.

"We felt that we presen‐ ted a very, very strong case," said Russell outside the court, where he was flanked by supporters.

"We felt that the govern‐ ment presented a very, very strong case, and we are con‐ fident that we will have a favourable ruling."

Innu want MOU scrapped

At issue is whether the deci‐ sion to sign the MOU was reasonable, given the un‐ proven nature NunatuKavut's claims.

The Innu want the agreement scrapped, saying they weren't consulted and accusing government of uni‐ laterally creating a new fourth category of Indige‐ nous people: the "Indigenous collective."

At the time, Crown-Indige‐ nous Relations minister Car‐ olyn Bennett was warned in‐ ternally that implementing the agreement was risky and could set a precedent with other groups whose Indige‐ nous rights are "subject to doubt," according to a memo filed in court.

The Nunatsiavut Govern‐ ment, which represents some 7,000 Inuit with a set‐ tled land claim in northern Labrador, has intervened to support the Innu and oppose NunatuKavut.

"Their claim is not legiti‐ mate," said Nunatsiavut Pres‐ ident Johannes Lampe.

"They are appropriating of the ways of life of the true Labrador Inuit, and some of the Labrador Innu."

The much-anticipated hearing brought a rush of ac‐ tivity as the organizations sought to rustle up public awareness and support.

Innu Nation joined forces with Nunatsiavut and advo‐ cacy organizations Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Assem‐ bly of First Nations QuebecLabrador at a joint news con‐ ference on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.

Then on Thursday, Nunatsiavut kicked off a pub‐ lic relations campaign target‐ ing NunatuKavut. A promo‐ tional video warns of "a new threat" posed by settlers with shallow roots in the land claiming kinship to cultures not their own.

Almost simultaneously, Russell held a news confer‐ ence of his own to accuse his opponents of spreading mis‐ information. He said the evi‐ dence of NunatuKavut mem‐ bers' Inuit heritage is ir‐ refutable.

"There were Inuit on the coast of Labrador where we live. We are the descendants of the Inuit that lived on that coast," Russell told CBC In‐ digenous.

"We are still there. We come from Inuit, we are Inuit, and we are in the land of our ancestors."

The courts have previous‐ ly deemed NunatuKavut's claims unproven but suffi‐ ciently credible to trigger the Crown's duty to consult, which applies to Indigenous Peoples on matters that may impact them.

The Canadian govern‐ ment, meanwhile, argued in court files it was within its rights to recognize NunatuKavut - a decision Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasan‐ garee has said is based on law and history, not politics.

This week's judicial review yielded no immediate deci‐ sion.