The Innu Nation and Nunatsiavut Government, who have negotiated land claims agreements with the federal and provincial governments over the course of decades, are once again questioning the Indigenous rights claimed by the NunatuKavut Community Council in southern Labrador.

The Nunatsiavut Government yesterday issued a statement indicating that they do not recognize the NCC’s proposed land claim.

President Johannes Lampe indicates that the Inuit settled land claims agreement, negotiated over many years, and the rights that represents, be protected and recognized.

The Innu Nation, meanwhile, has long contended that the NunatuKavut Community Council is not an organization that can hold Indigenous Rights under section 35 of the Canadian Constitution.

Grand Chief Etienne Rich says despite decades of work by both the Nunatsiavut Government and the Innu Nation, and despite decades of proving who they are, “the NunatuKavut Community Council has received millions of dollars” from both the federal and provincial governments “just because they say they are Indigenous” and that, says the Innu Nation, is not right.

The NCC, meanwhile, says the Nunatsiavut Government does not have the authority to accept or reject, their land claim, calling Nunatsiavut’s “opinion” both “hurtful and harmful.”

The NCC points to the British-Inuit Treaty of 1765 which it says recognizes and affirms their presence and connection to their places.

It says they have had others try to tell them who they are, and who they are not, and they vow to continue to press on to ensure the recognition and affirmation of their Inuit rights and strengthen their Inuit governance.