Deal Gives Canadian Inuit Large Territory (Calling it Nunatsiavut)

[Dover]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-canada-inuit-territory,0,6911625.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

Deal Gives Canada Inuit Large Territory

By Associated Press


ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland and Labrador -- A new Inuit territory nearly as big as South Carolina would be established in northeastern Canada under an agreement announced Friday, completing decades of government negotiations with the people commonly known as Eskimos.

Labrador's Inuit would govern a 29,000-square-mile territory to be called Nunatsiavut, which means "our beautiful land" in the Inuktitut language, under the agreement, which still requires ratification by the 5,000-member Labrador Inuit Association.

The Labrador Inuit would receive a $100 million payout in government money and another $111 million to implement necessary changes. The deal was reached by Labrador's Inuit leaders, the federal government and the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial government...MORE >>

[xchrom]

1. if this is what the innuit want

then this is wonderful news. self determination is important for all people. all be it limited.

[KittyWampus]

2. The United States Would Benefit By Doing Something Similar

Like transferring land on the Plains to Indian Tribes and asking them to manage wind farms and buffalo herds for the rest
of the country. As it stands now, the Plains are becoming ever more depopulated.

Such a move would give the Native American Tribes equity as well as meaningful work and some small amount of compensation
for the money we are STILL ripping off from them through corruption and mismanagement.

[treepig]

3. "the people commonly known as Eskimos" huh?

isn't "Eskimo" a racist term, somewhat akin to ni**er? :freak:

[pansypoo53219]

4. i thought

there already was a province(new) called Nunivit?

[Spazito]

5. Nunavut and Nunatsiavut are two different territories...

one is formerly part of the North West Territories and the other is in Labrador. I am really pleased to see this happen.

[canuck]

6. Me too..

pleased to see this.
They are pretty much the only ones living up there, why not let them manage it? I dont remember any native-managed land being clear-cut or strip-mined. I dont recall any open-pit coke burning on native managed land. I dont think they would allow sulphuric acid being dumped into their rivers.

I wonder what effect this will have on the nafta-esque "external constitution" which governs our natural resources. I mean if WTO says that we have to allow clear cutting of crown timber up in Labrador, could the Govt. just say "well, we'll have to ask the Inuit, its THEIR land" , and they never signed nafta.

If the US wanted to build a prison or a work camp or a missile launch facility up there, or a giant water pipeline to Texas, I dont think they would allow that either.

Could this be a backhanded attempt to protect our natural resources from global free trade by "giving" them to our native people?