Memorial University won’t recognize NunatuKavut in new Indigenous verification policy
NunatuKavut President Todd Russell says it’s an attack on the community
The NunatuKavut Community Council says it’s willing to fight against Memorial University for leaving the group out of its new Indigenous verification policy.
NunatuKavut president Todd Russell says the draft policy was written “so that NunatuKavut Inuit would be basically erased as an Indigenous people.”
NunatuKavut represents 6,000 self-identifying Inuit in south and central Labrador. The group, which identified itself as the Labrador Métis Nation until 2010, is not recognized by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national representative organization for the Inuit in Canada.
Russell says he’s not shocked by MUN’s decision. He says the university informed him that NunatuKavut would be excluded from consultations with Indigenous groups.
The new policy draft comes after former university president Vianne Timmons was removed for claiming to be part of an unrecognized Mi’kmaq band for years.
Now, the university will require Indigenous students and faculty to verify their Indigenous identity to access grants, scholarships and jobs. Self-declaration is no longer sufficient for obtaining Indigenous opportunities.
A committee will look at an applicant’s official documentation or a statement of relationality and a letter from an official representative from a recognized Indigenous collective in Canada. The collectives must be recognized under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution Act, or be recognized as Indigenous by their federally-recognized Indigenous neighbours.
Catharyn Andersen, MUN’s vice-president Indigenous, told CBC Radio’s On The Go that NunatuKavut wouldn’t meet the criteria.
Russell says he will be fighting the university’s decision because NunatuKavut has other Indigenous recognition.
“We will fight in the halls of Memorial University,” said Russell. “We will occupy that university.”
In 2019, the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding on self-determination with NunatuKavut. The MOU outlines both parties’ goals to strengthen their relationship and recognize their rights.
However, it’s a non-binding agreement, and doesn’t give NunatuKavut rights. Instead, it outlines the intention to make a decision in the future.
But, Russell says the MOU is part of the process of obtaining Section 35 rights, and that NunatuKavut is on a journey to obtaining them, just as other Indigenous groups have to do.
Russell also disagrees with the second option to be recognized by Indigenous neighbours, stating that the university should know about the unfavourable dynamics between NunatuKavut and its neighbours like the Nunatsiavut government.
“That is lunacy to say that your neighbour actually has authority over your rights, your identity,” he said.
Movement against self-identification
Johannes Lampe, president of the Nunatsiavut government, told CBC Radio’s Labrador Morning that he is in favour of MUN’s new policy.
“It affirms a principle that Inuit and other Indigenous peoples have always known,” he said.
Lampe says the policy protects the rights to Indigenous specific opportunities, and will mean a safer and fairer academic environment for Inuit youth.
“Memorial is showing leadership that we hope other institutions will follow,” he said.
Lampe says the Nunatsiavut government will be providing feedback on the draft policy.
Andersen says the consultation that informed the university was led by the First People’s Group, an Indigenous advisory firm.
She says the policy is part of a cross-country Indigenous movement to move beyond Indigenous self-identification.
“Indigenous people have been calling for this,” she said.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: NunatuKavut community council in Canada accused of not being an Inuit organization, as identity tensions escalate, CBC News
Finland: Sami NGO demands removal of “Far Northern Attire” from Square Enix’s Final Fantasy, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Certification marks help both Sami artisans and consumers, says council, Eye on the Arctic
