The Environmental Threat

The Innus cannot pursue their traditions because their territory is being handed away for government usage. An example to support this would be, “The desire of many Innu to spend time in nutshimit is becoming increasingly difficult, as the government hands out their land in mining concessions, floods the heart of their territory for hydro power schemes, and builds roads.” (Survival International) The nutshimit is the place where the Innu tribe originally lived, since the placement in communities, they have gone to their roots twice a year. They would go in winter and summer and live like they used to. They would go fishing and hunting, and then move back to the communities in the springtime and fall, and live like the government and the catholic church wanted them to live. But as the government is being put under economic pressure, they decided to start building roads on the original land of the innus. This is keeping the tribal people away from their original traditions, and taking away all their original environment. This is a problem because as tribes are becoming more extinct, the fact that the environment is being taken away from the Inuit culture keeping the tribal people from living as they originally did.

Les portes. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2016, from http://www.lauremorali.net/2011_10_01_archive.html

The picture displays a sunset in the nutshimit

According to Survival International, the Canadian government “will only recognise Innu land rights if the Innu agree to surrender most of their land.” this means that the government is fully aware of what actions they are doing, and what harm they are causing. The innu society is by now a very developed society, and from my point of view, it wouldn’t be right to put them back into the environment with no contact to the outside world. This is because they are by now used to it, and it’s a whole new generation who lives there. On the other hand, the tribe should not become extinct, and therefore the land must be preserved. A possible solution would be to create a space that is big enough for the tribe to full fill their routines and beliefs, but also give some land to the government, which can then be used to build roads and power schemes.