An Innu-centric Approach to Environmental Stewardship

The Innu of Labrador have inhabited their ancestral lands continuously for 8,000 years, developing values and livelihoods they did not consider separate from the landscape and the wildlife that sustained them. Over the past... [ view full abstract ]

The Innu of Labrador have inhabited their ancestral lands continuously for 8,000 years, developing values and livelihoods they did not consider separate from the landscape and the wildlife that sustained them. Over the past sixty years, they have faced tremendous changes to their traditional lifestyles due to settlement in communities, major development projects, climate change, along with  a slew of researchers coming to their communities.   Now on the verge of settling their land claims, the Innu are developing policies that reflect their deeply held cultural values, along with a set of ethics for people wishing to relate with their communities and their ancestral lands. In this presentation, Richard Nuna, Manager of Operations for the Innu Nation Environmental Office, accompanied by CCRN partner, Dr. Trudy Sable, will discuss the process the Innu have undergone to meet the various challenges their communities have addressed to become self-governing, and the development of an Innu-centric environmental policy.