DON'T WORRY 'BOUT THE GOVERNMENT:
INNU CHALLENGE NEWFOUNDLAND HYDRO
The ACTivist
The Innu have developed yet another strategy in their campaign
of non-violent civil disobedience against government invasions of their
land. Early in November, residents of Sheshatshit disconnected their
hydro meters and delivered the disassembled parts to Newfoundland
Hydro officials, in protest against hydro-electric projects on their
territory.
Copper-wire devices are now delivering electricity to Innu homes.
The Innu say that they will not pay to have their land flooded and
otherwise 'developed'.
Large areas of Innu territory, including traditional hunting and
burial grounds, were flooded by the Upper Churchill Dam in the late
60s. Many Innu still regard this as one of the worst government
crimes against them, especially the flooding-out of the graves of
their ancestors.
"The ultimate crime by the government was when they flooded
our lands" says Rose Gregoire. "The government, foreigners in our
land, flooded the graves of our ancestors. That is what I call a crime."
The Innu have never received compensation for the lands they lost
to the Upper Churchill project.
Now there are plans for further hydro developments on the Churchill
River. Though Innu land will not be flooded by the projected Lower
Churchill project, nearby lands will, and the environmental impact
on the area as a whole has not been satisfactorily studied. "A joint
federal-provincial Environmental Impact Assessment was conducted 12
years ago, however, it left a great deal to be desired in terms of
comprehensiveness, consideration of cumulative impacts, etc." says
one consultant. And the project would involve stringing power lines
across Innu land, again with unstudied environmental effects.
Electricity from Lower Churchill will be exported to the United
States.
Peter Penashue, President of the Innu Nation, says that he will be
talking to electricity consumers in the northeastern United States
to ask them to delay payment of hydro bills, and with bond brokers
in New York to ask them not to deal in Hydro Quebec or Newfoundland
Hydro bonds.
The 'boycott' of Newfoundland Hydro will continue, the Innu maintain,
at least until they are compensated for the damages caused by the
Upper Churchill project.