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65-651: Davis Inlet was a Naskapi community in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador , formerly inhabited by the Mushuau Innu First Nation . It was named for its adjacent fjord , itself named for English explorer, John Davis , who in 1587 charted the region as part of ongoing efforts to find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific . The residents of Davis Inlet were relocated to

130-637: A 5,000-foot (1,500 m) paved landing strip, is connected to points south by means of year-round, five-day-per-week service. Mushuau Innu First Nation is located in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador . In 1967 the Mushuau Innu were settled in Utshimassits ( Davis Inlet ) on Iluikoyak Island located off the coast of Labrador Peninsula , which inhibited the ability of the Mushuau Innu to continue their traditional caribou hunt on

195-607: A Dispute Resolution Mechanism for disputes arising from the interpretation, administration, and implementation of the NEQA, the JBNQA, and the ARINEQA, and created a working group to address employment for Naskapi. The Naskapi are now developing their homeland, notably through economic development and community reinforcement. Economic Development Projects: Sectors of Activity currently being developed: Due to their geographic isolation,

260-471: A cost of $ 5,000 each. In 1969, Indian and Northern Affairs acquired from the reluctant Municipality of Schefferville, a marshy, 39-acre (160,000 m ) site north of the town centre and adjacent to Pearce Lake . By 1972, 43 row-housing units had been built there for the Naskapi, and a further 63 for Montagnais, and most of the Naskapi and Montagnais moved to this new site, known today as Matimekosh . For

325-650: A cost of nearly $ 200 million the community of Davis Inlet was relocated to Natuashish . However, the problems of suicide, alcohol and solvent abuse followed the community and in 2008 they voted to outlaw alcohol entirely. The prohibition bylaw was upheld in a subsequent referendum in March 2010. In December 1993, the Mushuau Innu Band Council banished a provincial court judge and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) from

390-447: A local addiction crisis. In 2001, 35 Innu children from Davis Inlet were sent to the former Grace Hospital in St. John's for treatment for gas sniffing. According to paediatrician and geneticist Dr. Ted Rosales, who served on the treatment team in 2001, approximately 24 of the youths were diagnosed as having FASD ( fetal alcohol spectrum disorder ). The Davis Inlet crisis was profiled in

455-481: A person who is receptive to the Great Man gets better and more helpful dreams, we could add that the inborn Great Man becomes more real within the receptive person than in those who neglect him. Such a person also becomes a more complete human being”. 55°51′N 60°52′W  /  55.850°N 60.867°W  / 55.850; -60.867 Naskapi Innu people are frequently divided into two groups,

520-539: A video (recorded by Simeon Tshakapesh who later served as Chief of Davis Inlet) was released to the media of 6 children in Davis Inlet between the ages of 11 and 14 huffing gasoline in an unheated shack in winter and shouting that they wanted to die. Shamed by the negative publicity and international outcry surrounding the events in 1993, the Canadian government agreed to move the Innu to mainland Labrador, and in 2002 at

585-400: Is a source of considerable bitterness even today that, in the minds of many Naskapi, not all of the promises or reassurances that were made were lived up to. Two examples are most commonly cited: the insistence of Indian and Northern Affairs' representatives that the Naskapi live in row houses that, in the event, proved not to be adequately soundproofed and that had a variety of other faults; and

650-524: Is situated on 16 square miles (41 km ) of Category IA-N land. There is ample room for expansion, whether for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes. The vast majority of the residents of Kawawachikamach are Naskapi. Naskapi is their principal language. It is spoken by all of them and written by many. English is their second language, although many younger persons also speak some French. The Naskapi still preserve many aspects of their traditional way of life and culture. Like many northern communities,

715-833: The Indian Act , most of the powers that had until then been exercised by the Minister of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development ("DIAND") under the Indian Act were transferred to the NNK and to the James Bay Cree bands, to be exercised by their elected councils. The NNK and the James Bay Cree bands were also given powers not found in the Indian Act , powers normally exercised by non-Native municipalities throughout Canada. The NEQA had been negotiated under

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780-559: The Abitibi Indian Agency visited them in Fort Chimo and arranged for the issuing of welfare to them. In the early 1950s, the Naskapi made a partially successful effort to re-establish themselves at Fort McKenzie , where they had already lived between 1916 and 1948, and to return to an economy based substantially on hunting, fishing and commercial trapping. They could no longer be entirely self-sufficient, however, and

845-773: The Dominion of Newfoundland ) the total Innu population in Labrador (consisting of both Montagnais and Naskapi) was 100 in Davis Inlet, 33 in Nain and 137 in North West River / Sheshatshiu (270 in total, it has since increased to over 2,000). The previous census in 1935 only counted Innu in David Inlet. Some surnames listed in the census including Rich, Michimagaua, Mishimapu and Pokue. Most Innu in Labrador did not have surnames until after confederation in 1949. None of

910-461: The Hudson's Bay Company . The major moves were: Numerous cases have been documented in which the Hudson's Bay Company relocated the Naskapi from post to post purely for its own commercial purposes, and without any concern as to whether the areas where the posts were situated offered the Naskapi the possibility of harvesting the fish and game that they required for food as well as the fur-bearers that

975-575: The Neenoilno (called Montagnais by French people) who live along the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence , in Quebec, and the less numerous Naskapi who live farther north. The Innu themselves recognize several distinctions (e.g. Mushuau Innuat, Maskuanu Innut, Uashau Innuat) based on different regional affiliations and various dialects of the Innu language. The word "Naskapi" (meaning "people beyond

1040-722: The 1996 documentary film Utshimassits: Place of the Boss . Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl G. Jung wrote in his book, Man and His Symbols , the following: "Their inner centre is realised in exceptionally pure and unspoiled form by the Naskapi Indians, who still exist in the forests of the Labrador peninsula . These simple people are hunters who live in isolated family groups, so far from one another that they have not been able to evolve tribal customs or collective religious beliefs and ceremonies. In his lifelong solitude

1105-480: The Company sought. In several instances, individual managers, apparently dissatisfied with the Naskapi' seeming lack of commitment to trapping withheld from them the ammunition that they needed to hunt for food, thereby directly causing a considerable number of deaths from starvation. By the late 1940s, the pressures of the fur trade, high rates of mortality and debilitation from diseases communicated by Europeans, and

1170-533: The Eskimo word 'Kohsoak'. The Fort Chimo band numbered only about 25 tents at the time of our visit in 1948. The men spend their time lying around the post, and the women and children pick berries on the barrens within a three-mile radius. As the vicinity of Fort Chimo is not duck nesting habitat, they do no damage to waterfowl. Between 1831 and 1956, the Naskapi were subjected to several major relocations, all of which reflected not their needs nor interests, but those of

1235-424: The Great Man away from one’s inner realm, whereas generosity and love of one’s neighbours and of animals attract him and give him life. Dreams give the Naskapi complete ability to find his way in life, not only in the inner world but also in the outer world of nature. They help him to foretell the weather and give him invaluable guidance in his hunting, upon which his life depends...Just as the Naskapi have noticed that

1300-598: The Hudson's Bay Company. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that these matters are still spoken of frequently today and that they maintain very considerable importance and significance for many Naskapi. A pivotal event in the history of the Naskapi occurred in early 1975, when, after separate visits to Schefferville by Billy Diamond , Grand Chief, Grand Council of the Crees (of Quebec) ("GCCQ"), and Charlie Watt , President, Northern Quebec Inuit Association ("NQIA"),

1365-593: The Innu lived in modern houses but instead camped in tents near North West River, Nain and Davis Inlet (all Inuit settlements) during the summer. After a 1948 visit to Fort Chimo to measure local duck populations, a Canadian biologist reported that the Naskapi at that location: ...are very few in number and spend the summer at the posts on the Atlantic coast, at Fort McKenzie on the Caniapiscau River , or at Fort Chimo where that river changes its name to

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1430-513: The Innu, and in 1967 with the urging of government officials and missionaries the Innu of Davis Inlet moved and settled on Iluikoyak Island on a year-round basis, establishing the Davis Inlet community (known as Utshimasits by the Innu). Problems with the new site for the Davis Inlet community began as early as 1969. Settling on Iluikoyak Island inhibited the ability of the Innu to continue their traditional means of providing food by hunting caribou on

1495-496: The JBNQA was signed on 11 November 1975, without the Naskapi. Shortly before the signing of the JBNQA, realizing that the demands on the Inuit were too great to allow them to represent the interests of the Naskapi in addition to their own interests, the Naskapi negotiators retained their own non-Native advisors and started to function as an independent negotiating body. The signatories of the JBNQA were fully aware that it provided for

1560-570: The Naskapi decided to become involved in the negotiations leading to the signature of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement ("JBNQA"). The Naskapi entered into a contract with the NQIA, under which the latter was to provide logistical support, legal advice, and representation to a small team of Naskapi negotiators based in Montreal . That arrangement was not very successful (how?), however, and

1625-439: The Naskapi had a strong preference for detached, single-family residences. In the event, Council was persuaded to accept row housing, but it did so only on the condition that the houses were adequately sound-proofed, which turned out not to be the case. Perhaps because it was the first such process in which they had been involved, the Naskapi placed considerable faith in the consultation undertaken by Indian and Northern Affairs. It

1690-438: The Naskapi hunter has to rely on his own inner voices and unconscious revelations; he has no religious teachers who tell him what he should believe, no rituals, festivals or customs to help him along. In his basic view of life, the soul of man is simply an ‘Inner companion’, whom he calls ‘My friend’ or ‘Mistapeo’, meaning ‘Great Man’. Mistapeo dwells in the heart and is immortal ; in the moment of death, or just before, he leaves

1755-535: The Naskapi rely on subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping for a large part of their food supply and for many raw materials. Harvesting is at the heart of Naskapi spirituality. Kawawachikamach is linked to Schefferville by a gravel-surfaced all-season road. Rail transportation is available on a weekly basis between Schefferville, Wabush and Labrador City, and Sept-Îles. The train is equipped to transport passengers and freight, including large vehicles, gasoline and fuel oil, and refrigerated goods. Schefferville, which has

1820-597: The Naskapi the possibility of relocating from the Matimekosh Reserve to a new site. Between 1978 and 1980, technical and socio-economic studies of the potential sites for the permanent Naskapi community were carried out. On 31 January 1980, the Naskapi voted overwhelmingly to relocate to the present site of Kawawachikamach , built largely by Naskapi between 1980 and 1983. The planning and building gave Naskapi training and experience in administration and in construction and maintenance trades. Between 1981 and 1984,

1885-565: The Naskapi were induced, if not ordered, to move by officials of Indian and Northern Affairs , while the other believes that the Naskapi themselves decided to move in the hope of finding employment, housing, medical assistance, and educational facilities for their children. Although officials of Indian and Northern Affairs were certainly aware of the intention of the Naskapi to move from Fort Chimo to Schefferville and may even have instigated that move, they appear to have done little or nothing to prepare for their arrival there, not even by warning

1950-471: The Naskapi were initially less affected by missionaries than other groups. One primary spiritual influence was "Moose-Fly" ( Məsəna´kʷ ), a spirit often accompanied by actual moose-flies, who would sting people during salmon-fishing season in the summer. Humans had to obey the Moose-Fly spirit's commands, including a taboo around making fun of fish for having extra-large eyes. Salmon was a vital resource for

2015-738: The Naskapi, so the Moose-Fly's commands carried great weight. Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach (the "Nation"), originally known as the “Naskapis de Schefferville Indian Band” and later as the “Naskapi Band of Quebec” , is a First Nation in with a population of approximately 850 registered First Nations people, who are also beneficiaries of the Northeastern Quebec Agreement ("NEQA"). The majority reside in Kawawachikamach, Quebec , located approximately 16 kilometres (10 mi) northeast of Schefferville. The village covers an area of approximately 40 acres (16 ha) and

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2080-510: The Naskapi, split off from the tribe in the 20th century and were subject to a government relocation program at Davis Inlet . The Naskapi language and culture is quite different from the Montagnais, in which the dialect changes from y to n as in "Iiyuu" versus "Innu". Some of the families of Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach have close relatives in the Cree village of Whapmagoostui , on

2145-515: The Naskapi. The years 1831 onwards were characterized by the first regular contacts between the Naskapi and western society, when the Hudson's Bay Company established its first trading post at Old Fort Chimo . The relationship between the Naskapi and the Hudson's Bay Company was not an easy one. It was difficult for the Naskapi to integrate commercial trapping, especially of marten in Winter, into their seasonal round of subsistence activities, for

2210-644: The Periodical Accounts of the Moravian Missionaries described a group of Indians living west of Okak as " Nascopies ". The Naskapi came under the influence of Protestant missionaries, and remain Protestant to this day. In addition to their native tongue, they speak English, in contrast to their Montagnais cousins who are for the most part Roman Catholic, speaking the native language and French. The Montagnais are far more numerous than

2275-551: The RCMP. In November 1999, international Indigenous rights organization Survival International released a report on the Labrador Innu entitled Canada's Tibet: The Killing of the Innu . The report called the Innu of Davis Inlet "the most suicide-ridden people of the world". In November 2000, Davis Inlet, along with Sheshatshiu , took the unprecedented step of asking the Canadian federal government to step in and assist with

2340-570: The assumption that Schefferville would continue to be an active centre of mining, outfitting, and exploration for the foreseeable future. Inquiries by the Government of Quebec to the Iron Ore Company of Canada ("IOCC") in the late 1970s had confirmed that assumption. Nevertheless, IOCC announced in 1982 its intention to close the mines at Schefferville immediately. The closing of the mines at Schefferville had profound implications for

2405-529: The community. The public reasoning for the expulsion concerned Innu dissatisfaction with the practice and application of the Canadian Criminal Code to its people. The Innu also stated that the RCMP did not have jurisdiction over their community. The standoff continued until March 1995 when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of Canada and the Mushuau Innu Band Council to establish Indigenous police officers to assist

2470-493: The eastern shore of Hudson Bay . The earliest written reference to Naskapi appears around 1643, when the Jesuit André Richard referred to the "Ounackkapiouek", but little is known about the group to which Richard was referring, other than that they were one of many "small nations" situated somewhere north of Tadoussac . The word "Naskapi" appeared for the first time in 1733, at which time the group so described

2535-631: The effects of the virtual disappearance of the George River Caribou Herd had reduced the Naskapi to a state where their very survival was threatened. The Naskapi had received relief from the Federal Government as early as the end of the 19th century, but their first regular contacts with the Federal Government began only in 1949, when Colonel H.M. Jones , Superintendent of Welfare Services in Ottawa, and M. Larivière of

2600-480: The extinguishment of the Naskapi' Aboriginal rights in the Territory without granting them any compensatory rights or benefits. They also knew that the Naskapi, unlike certain others of Quebec's First Nations at that time, were willing to negotiate a settlement of their Aboriginal claims. Thus, although the Naskapi had never filed a formal statement of claim or similar document, except for a draft history prepared by

2665-530: The fact that the brochure prepared by Indian and Northern Affairs showed a fully landscaped site with trees and bushes, whereas no landscaping was done, and no trees or bushes were ever planted. Incidents like those may seem very minor to persons with long experience of large and impersonal institutions such as government departments, but they happened to the Naskapi when they were in a very formative stage of their relations with Indian and Northern Affairs and when they had still not forgotten their callous treatment by

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2730-471: The first time in their lengthy history of relocations, the Naskapi were consulted in the planning of their new home. Indian and Northern Affairs sent officials to explain the new community to the Naskapi, a brochure was published, models built, and progress reports issued. Particular interest among the Naskapi centred on the type of housing that they would receive. Possibly for financial reasons, Indian and Northern Affairs wanted them to live in row houses, whereas

2795-427: The high cost of resupplying them, combined with the continuing high incidence of tuberculosis and other factors, obliged them to return to Fort Chimo after only two years. For reasons that are not entirely clear, virtually all of the Naskapi moved from Fort Chimo to the recently founded iron-ore mining community of Schefferville in 1956. Two principal schools of thought about this move exist. One of them holds that

2860-504: The horizon") first made an appearance in the 17th century and was subsequently applied to Innu groups beyond the reach of missionary influence, most notably those living in the lands which bordered Ungava Bay and the northern Labrador coast, near the Inuit communities of northern Quebec and northern Labrador. The Naskapi are traditionally nomadic peoples, in contrast with the territorial Montagnais . Mushuau Innuat (plural), while related to

2925-490: The implementation of the NEQA, particularly for those provisions dealing with health and social services and with training and job-creation. Consequently, in the late 1980s, the NNK and the Government of Canada undertook a joint evaluation of Canada's discharging of its responsibilities under the NEQA. The evaluation was motivated more by the change in the circumstances of Schefferville and of the Naskapi than by any belief on

2990-494: The individual, and later reincarnates himself in another being". Jung also wrote: "Those Naskapi who pay attention to their dreams and who try to find their meaning and test their truth can enter into a greater connection with the Great Man. He favours such people and sends them more and better dreams. Thus the major obligation of an individual Naskapi is to follow the instructions given by his dreams, and then to give permanent form to their contents in art. Lies and dishonesty drive

3055-546: The late Alan Cooke, the parties to the JBNQA accepted the legitimacy of their claims, and they entered into an agreement-in-principle with the Naskapi in the Spring of 1977 to negotiate an agreement that would have the same principal features as the JBNQA. The result of the negotiations was the Northeastern Quebec Agreement ("NEQA"), which was executed on 31 January 1978. Section 20 of the NEQA offered

3120-416: The mainland and the community struggled adapting to its new-found dependence on store-bought food. Iluikoyak Island is solid rock, and because working the rock was seen as too expensive, the houses provided by the government for settlement were made without basements or water supply network and sewage systems . The houses were also small, poorly constructed, and not designed to house extended families . It

3185-716: The mainland. Therefore, they were relocated in the winter of 2002/2003 to their new main settlement Natuashish (pronounced: 'Nat-wah-sheesh'), about 295 km north of Happy Valley-Goose Bay and 80 km southeast of Nain . Natuashish located on the mainland is only 15 km west of Utshimassits ; ethnically they are Naskapi, speaking the Eastern Dialect (Mushuau Innu or Davis Inlet variety) of Iyuw Imuun and writing in Eastern Cree syllabics , but split up and sent to Eastern Labrador , very few (if any) are able to write in syllabics any more. The majority of

3250-478: The new community of Natuashish , 15 km (9.3 mi) away, in 2002. The community developed around 1924 during a period of sparse caribou populations when the Innu began spending their summers along the shoreline of Davis Inlet. This location was chosen because of its accessibility, its offering of other non-caribou food sources, and the presence of a trading post , operated by the Hudson's Bay Company , that

3315-598: The part of the Naskapi that Canada had wilfully neglected any of its responsibilities under the NEQA. The outcome of those negotiations was the Agreement Respecting the Implementation of the Northeastern Quebec Agreement ("ARINEQA"), which was executed in September 1990. Among other things, the ARINEQA established the model for funding capital and O&M expenditures over five-year periods, created

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3380-583: The people are Catholic, which use the Montagnais Bible (which does not use syllabics) and therefore use the Latin alphabet , Reservation: Natuashish #2, ca. 44 km², Population: 936) Natuashish Natuashish is an Innu community in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador . The community is inhabited by the Mushuau Innu First Nation . Natuashish became a federal Indian reserve in 2003. Natuashish (Little Sango Pond)

3445-484: The previous year, and between 1973 and 1995, there were 50 alcohol-related deaths in the community of 465. As a result of the February 1992 fire, the Mushuau Innu and Innu Nation held an internal enquiry published as Gathering Voices: Finding Strength to Help Our Children. Inhalant abuse was another problem in Davis Inlet, with 47 children being recognized as chronic abusers of solvents, some as young as age 5. In 1993,

3510-418: The representatives of the Iron Ore Company of Canada ("IOCC") or the municipality of Schefferville . The Naskapi left Fort Chimo on foot to make the 400-mile (640 km) journey to Schefferville overland. By the time they reached Wakuach Lake , some 70 miles (113 km) north of Schefferville, most of them were in a pitiable state, exhausted, ill, and close to starvation. A successful rescue effort

3575-421: The reserve. The bylaw was originally passed in 2008 by a margin of two votes. The prohibition bylaw was upheld in a subsequent referendum held in the community in March 2010. The community has continued to struggle with drug abuse and youth boredom. As recently as 2017, gas sniffing by youths has been a notable issue. Natuashish is inaccessible by road and may be reached only by air or sea. The community

3640-640: The self-government legislation promised by Canada in Section 7 of the NEQA was negotiated. The outcome of those negotiations was the Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act ("CNQA"), which was assented to by Parliament on 14 June 1984. The overriding purpose of the CNQA was to make the NNK and the James Bay Cree Bands largely self-governing. In addition to the powers then exercised by band councils under

3705-399: The simple reason that the distribution of marten was in large measure different from the distribution of essential sources of food at that season. In consequence, the Naskapi did not prove to be the regular and diligent trappers that the traders must have hoped to find, and the traders seem to have attributed this fact to laziness or intransigence on the part of Naskapi. In the 1945 census (in

3770-533: The summer at Davis Inlet. Without prior consultation the Newfoundland government , promising better opportunities for fishing and hunting , oversaw the 1948 relocation of the Innu of Davis Inlet to the small community of Nutak in northern Labrador . However, two years later the Innu surprised government officials by returning to Davis Inlet, having made their way back through the interior of Labrador on foot. The government continued to consider relocation of

3835-412: Was able to supply traps , ammunition, tobacco, butter, sugar and flour to the Innu in exchange for furs. Davis Inlet was also frequented by Roman Catholic missionaries, whom the Innu found helpful. In the following years the Innu began the process of sedentarization , transitioning from a nomadic lifestyle to a more sedentary one, travelling inland to hunt caribou in the fall and winter, but spending

3900-451: Was accused of creating a system overburdened with bureaucracy, and not adequately addressing the issues. The local tribal band was accused of corruption, as was proven in a 2005 CBC News report in which it was shown that the leadership was trafficking drugs and other illicit substances to maintain power. The community's attempt to resolve its problem with alcoholism led to a ban on the sale, purchase, and possession of alcohol within

3965-455: Was established in 2002 as a planned community in the hopes of resolving the social problems that had plagued the prior community of Davis Inlet , 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) away. The population of Natuashish at the 2021 Census was 856, down from 938 in 2016. Initial reports suggested that the Canadian government 's plan of renewal and healing had been a failure, as the community was still plagued with alcohol and drug abuse . The government

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4030-557: Was mounted, but the only homes that awaited the Naskapi were the shacks that they built for themselves on the edge of Pearce Lake , near the railroad station, with scavenged and donated materials. A short time later, in 1957, under the pretext that the water at Pearce Lake was contaminated, the municipal authorities moved them to a site adjacent to John Lake, some four miles (6 km) north-north-east of Schefferville, where they lived without benefit of water sewage, or electricity, and where, despite their hopes in coming to Schefferville, there

4095-440: Was no school for their children and no medical facility. The Naskapi shared the site at John Lake with a group of Montagnais, who had moved voluntarily from Sept-Îles to Schefferville with the completion of the railroad in the early 1950s. Initially, the Naskapi lived in tiny shacks that they built for themselves, but by 1962 Indian and Northern Affairs had built 30 houses for them, and a further four were under construction at

4160-450: Was said to number approximately forty families and to have an important camp at Ashuanipi Lake . At approximately the same time, in 1740, Joseph Isbister , the manager of the Hudson's Bay Company 's post at Eastmain, reported being told that there were Indians, whom he called "Annes-carps" to the northeast of Richmond Gulf . In later years those Indians came to be called variously " Nascopie " and " Nascappe ". Not many years later, in 1790,

4225-488: Was soon discovered that water supply on the island was insufficient, and most of it contaminated . Waste began to pile up, and diseases such as tuberculosis began to appear. Many of the adults in Davis Inlet battled alcoholism and on Valentine's Day , 1992, six unattended children aged between six months and nine years died in a house fire while their parents were drinking at a Valentine's Day dance. About one-quarter of all adults in Davis Inlet had attempted suicide in

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