International Day Of Action For The Innu And The Earth – April 3, 1993
Most readers will be aware that the Innu of Nitassinan (the Quebec-Labrador peninsula) have been subjected to low-level training flights by NATO pilots from Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands over their hunting grounds. The noise of these flights causes them great distress; particularly the elderly and the young.
The Innu travel to camps far in the interior of Nitassinan each fall, and spring where they hunt, trap, and fish in much the same way that their ancestors have for over 2,000 years. Their land and the wildlife are threatened by many government and industrial initiatives including forest cutting, hydro dams, highways, and mines.
The Royal Air Force Commander at Goose Bay said that the training his pilots received in Nitassinan was very helpful in preparing them for their missions against Iraq.
The Canadian government agreed in Agenda 21 that “the lands of indigenous people and their communities should be protected from activites that are environmentally unsound or that the indigenous people concerned consider to be socially and culturally inappropriate” (Chapter 26, subsection ii)
Anyone who would like to fake part in this campaign—which is in recognition of 501 Years of Resistance & Survival in this 1993 United Nations declared “International Year of Indigenous Peoples”—should get in touch with The International Innu Campaign Planning Group, 736 Bathurst St, Toronto M5S 2R4, phone 416/531-6154, fax 416/531- 5850.