> ...I hope that representatives of the press will soon be
> sent to the site in order to document the situation at Sept-Isles, Quebec.
> I suggest that we write to the addresses posted recently in Tom's bulletin
> to express our concern about the potential for violence, indicating that
> an international community is watching that situation, and that we seek to
> find out more about why Gilbert Pilot and his community have decided to set
> up a barricade, thus risking the possibility of violence, which could lead
> to serious injury...
I have established a special purpose mailing list for people who want to
work actively on this issue. A number of us have been using it for the
past several days to do so. If you would like to become part of this
effort, please send a message to "nn-request@gnosys.svle.ma.us" containing
the text:
subscribe nn.innu Your Name
At this point, we have established that Tom Dosteau is who he claims to be,
and does represent Grand Chief Gilbert Pilot. Both of them, along with a
number of others from their community are now at U.N. Headquarters in New
York, where the opening ceremonies of the International Year of Indigenous
Peoples are being conducted. We do not yet know, however, much of the back-
ground to the situation, or what actions people in the community have taken
which has resulted in the injunction having been issued against them. We
also do not know what they intend to do this coming Saturday (the 12th) which,
they say, has the potential for violence, and why they are taking this risk
by means of carrying out whatever actions they intend. It seems clear that
the Innu people are within their rights in rejecting the $800 million offer
made by Hydro Quebec for their ancestral lands. What is not yet clear to me
is what actions have been taken by the government or by Hydro Quebec, if any,
in an effort to expropriate their lands or property.
I hope we can get a much clearer picture of what is happening, as well as of
the overal history of this situation, so that we can, both individually and
collectively, decide what response might be appropriate.
Gary
--
Gary S. Trujillo gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts {wjh12,bu.edu,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst