Canada accused of destroying the Innu

LONDON, Nov 9: : Canada was on Monday accused of destroying the lives and culture of the indigenous Innu people from the Labrador Peninsu...

LONDON, Nov 9: : Canada was on Monday accused of destroying the lives and culture of the indigenous Innu people from the Labrador Peninsula, in a damning report by the Survival pressure group unveiled here.

The Innu suffer the world’s highest suicide rates, alcoholism is widespread and domestic violence and child abuse is now common, says Survival International, which campaigns for tribal and indigenous peoples.

The group blames their plight on the Canadian government’s policy over the past 30 years of moving the Innu away from their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle and into villages.

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It says the Innu, who have inhabited eastern Canada for more than 7,000 years, are having their land snatched following the discovery of nickel reserves and for hydroelectric projects. “Canada is destroying the Innu. Unless things change radically and very quickly, it will be too late,” says the report “Canada’s Tibet – The killing of the Innu”.

The report accuses Canada of acting over the Innu areas of theLabrador Peninsula in the way China has acted over Tibet. It calls on Canadians to demand that their government halt all development work in the Innu area until their land rights have been settled properly.

One of the report’s authors Jonathan Mazower said: “What happened to the Inuit constitutes the worst violation of human rights in the North American continent.

“The Innu were living a nomadic way of life until 30 years ago, when they were settled in communities under pressure from the government and church.” Survival said the breakdown of the way of life for the Innu population was reflected in appallingly high rates of alcoholism and suicide. Researchers in one Innu community found that in 1990 between 80 and 85 per cent of the population over 15 were alcoholic, while gangs of children roamed the settlements too terrified to return home to drunk and violent adults.

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Almost one-third of the community had tried to commit suicide, with the Innu 13 times more likely to kill themselves than the generalpopulation of Canada.

The problem was illustrated tragically on Monday. Napes Ashini, who flew in from Labrador for the report’s launch, learned on arrival in London that his 15-year-old son Andrew had killed himself hours earlier.

Actress Julie Christie, who supports the Survival campaign, said: “What Survival reveals in this report has shocked and horrified me. It is clear that behind Canada’s liberal reputation lies a scandal the government is doing its best to hide. If Canadians knew what their government is doing to the Innu they would be deeply angered and ashamed.”