Wells rejects report on relocation

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Newfoundland released a long-awaited report on the relocation of the Innu of Davis Inlet after Chief Katie Rich accused he premier of "shelving" the document.

Clyde Wells made provisions for the release of the report by Norwegian anthropologist George Henriksen Nov. 25 after repeated questions about the study.

The report, which was commissioned by the province and prepared in secret, recommends Newfoundland move quickly in helping the Innu people of Davis Inlet relocate their community to mainland Labrador.

Moving the community 15 kilometres to Sango Bay, a site of the Innu's choosing, would help alleviate some of the dire social problems facing the 500 people in the inlet, the report stated.

The Innu came to international attention last January when tribal police discovered two groups of children high on gasoline fumes and screaming about suicide.

Eighteen youths sere airlifted to Poundmaker's treatment centre in Alberta and addiction counsellors were flown to the inlet to help the rest of the village. But the problems of substance abuse and violence remain in the community.

Last month, police confronted a 16-year-old boy walking through the village with a loaded rifle. Police reported he was high on gas fumes and talking about suicide.

Moving the village to Sango Bay would help the Innu regain their spirituality, social and psychological health and restore the community's collective identity and self-esteem, Henriksen wrote. It would also help Newfoundland restore its credibility as a reliable government.

Talks between the Innu and the province collapsed in April after Wells refused to consider the Sango Bay site. Shifting the village there will only shift all the social ills of the Innu, he said.

The premier discounted Henriksen's report, saying it only expresses the author's "personal view" on moving the village.

Rich had resigned as chief last month, saying she was frustrated with the province's lack of action. But a call from Indian Affairs Ron Irwin changed her mind.

Quitting would have left the community with no experienced leaders to deal with the federal government, she said.

Ottawa initially moved the community to the Far North in 1948 when game animals around the inlet on the mainland grew scarce. Many residents returned to the area in 1949, but the hunting remained poor.

The village was then relocated to its current island site 330 kilometres north of Goose Bay in 1967.