Davis Inlet Innu to be relocated

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In a sudden about-face, the federal government agreed last week to move the community of Davis Inlet back to the mainland.

Tom Siddon, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, said last Tuesday that he endorsed the Innu's plan to relocate their village in order to save it.

"I recognize that Sango Bay is the preferred location of the Innu," he said. "We are beginning discussions immediately with the Innu and the Province of Newfoundland We are committed to choosing the site that will ensure the revitalization of the community.

"The present site, chosen by government without consultation with the Innu, lacks basic infrastructure and keeps Innu isolated from their hunting territory," the document read.

Rich was delighted with Siddon's announcement of the relocation. "It's wonderful It hasn't sunk in yet," she said.

The federal government had admitted earlier in the week that the living conditions in the troubled island community of Davis Inlet were unacceptable. But Siddon had refused to move the village until now.

Davis Inlet became the focus of government and media attention last month when six children in the remote community 110 kilometres north of Goose Bay were discovered intoxicated on gasoline fumes and nearly comatose in an unheated shack on the government wharf.

The six children, five girls and one boy all under the age of 14, were all talking about committing suicide when found by a Native police officer Jan. 26. On the evening of Sunday, Jan. 31, the same officer found five more children sniffing gasoline, this time under a house.

Siddon had earlier said the amounts of violence, poverty and substance abuse, including gas sniffing, were cause for concern but moving the residents would only move the problem.

"All Canadians are saddened and deeply troubled by the spectre of young children resorting to gasoline sniffing and substance abuse and by the conditions in which they and their parents are living. But relocation in itself is not the solution to this problem.

He discussed the option with Health Minister Benoit Bouchard, acting Premier of

Newfoundland Winston Baker and federal Minister Responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador, John Crosbie. He initially concluded such a scheme would not work in the long run.

Government critic New Democrat MP Robert Skelly said the community's social disintegration has its roots in previous forced relocations. He demanded the federal government recognize its responsibility to the Innu community.

Siddon said Newfoundland has accepted responsibility for the Innu "from the time of Confederation."

The Newfoundland government originally moved the community 250 kilometres north in 1948 when game grew scarce. Residents returned to the Inlet in 1949 where living conditions remained poor due to limited game hunting. They were then moved form the mainland in 1967 with promises of better living conditions.

A report by the consulting firm of Terpstra and Associates received by Siddon's department on Dec. 21 recommended the immediate relocation of the community but Siddon wanted to wait.

"Forgive us if we want to exercise some caution, not to presume that relocation in itself would solve the problem," he said Feb.. 2. "Our imposed solutions of the past have not been successful, to put it mildly."

The Innu presented their seven-point plan in a meeting with government officials on Feb. 5. The single most important point was that on relocation to a mainland site with room for the community to grow and have better access to traditional hunting grounds.

Rich also demanded the establishment of a family treatment centre based on the holistic approach, which would prove "ongoing treatment and build upon the natural strength of the Innu...in a physical and cultural setting which is not alienating."

The other points called for the implementation of Innu land rights and Innu government, the establishment of a community "healing" team, clarification for the federal and provincial governmnts; jurisdiction over Innu matters and a meeting between the Innu and government officials to implement the plan.

Living conditions for the fewer than 500 residents are reported as deplorable. There is no running water and sewage is not treated. The raw waste is dumped into the street. Most houses are without insulation in a climate that sees temperatures routinely drop below -40 C Substance abuse, family violence and unemployment are widespread.

Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi, who was in Davis Inlet

for a three-day visit, said he wants to establish an emergency response team to deal with such crisis situations. The community's trouble are a chilling example of why Native self-government is urgently needed in Canada, he said.

Meanwhile, the federal government has assured Davis Inlet residents that resources to relocate the community are on their way.