Innu Nation of Labrador

Land claim negotiations are still underway with the Innu Nation. There are approximately 1,700 Innu in Sheshatshiu and 900 Mushuau Innu in Natuashish. Prior to the 1960s, they lived a nomadic existence following caribou in the interior of the Québec-Labrador Peninsula. The two (2) communities are distinct from each other, their residents were formerly known as Montagnais and Naskapi, respectively, but they share a political organization, the Innu Nation, which represents them in land claims and other negotiations.

The Innu Nation land claim, accepted by the federal government for negotiation in 1978, covers approximately 70% of Labrador. A framework agreement, signed by Canada, NL and the Innu Nation in 1996, sets out the ground rules for negotiations.

The Tshash Petapen Agreement (jash pey-taah-ben) which translates as the New Dawn Agreement, was signed on September 26, 2008. It is a bilateral agreement between the Innu Nation of Labrador and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. It resolved key issues relating to matters between the province and the Innu Nation surrounding the Innu Land Claims Agreement, the Lower Churchill Impacts and Benefits Agreement (IBA) and Innu redress for the Upper Churchill hydroelectric development. The New Dawn Agreement formed the basis for ongoing negotiation for all three agreements.

The New Dawn Agreement represented a significant step in the tripartite land claim negotiation process towards an Agreement-in-Principle as it brought closure to several significant bilateral issues between the Province and the Innu Nation.

The tripartite AIP, the Lower Churchill IBA and the Upper Churchill redress agreement were signed at Natuashish on November 18, 2011. Negotiations among Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador and Innu Nation towards a final land claims and self-government agreement are ongoing.

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