Shrine to the Virgin Mary alongside the Northwest River Road between Happy Valley - Goose Bay and the Innu village of Sheshatshit. The shrine was erected by an Innu elder to pray for the safety of non-Innu loggers after a fatal accident not far from this site, Nitassinan/Labrador.
Storm over Lake Melville, Nitassinan/Labrador.
Peter Robert “Ben” Penashue, (approx. age 5), Sheshatshit, Nitassinan/Labrador.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Boys cool off from the July heat in Lake Melville, Sheshatshiu, Nitassinan/Labrador.
Shesahtshiu, Nitassinan/Labrador. Innu children at play act out scenes of everyday family. On the ground near the children lies a caribou leg bone, a sign of the decline of collective spirituality and morale in a culture which by tradition holds the caribou in highest esteem and by traditional law never allow unused parts of slaughtered wildlife to fall on the ground where they might be eaten by dogs. Dogs are considered one of the lowest forms of life, Nitassinan/Labrador. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1993.
There is often a brutal edge to even the most tender of actions in Innu daily life, but here at least the brutality is linked to the necessities for survival. Here, Innu elder Matthew Penashue removes porcupine quills from the muzzle of his hunting dog.
Brad Maahs — a “Come-From-Away” from Ontario who lives with Edith Davis, a women of Labradorian settler descent — and son, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nitassinan/Labrador. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1991.
Dave Hart buries a dead kitten, Sheshatshit.
Shesahtshiu, Nitassinan/Labrador. Innu children at play act out scenes of everyday family. On the ground near the children lies a caribou leg bone, a sign of the decline of collective spirituality and morale in a culture which by tradition holds the caribou in highest esteem and by traditional law never allow unused parts of slaughtered wildlife to fall on the ground where they might be eaten by dogs. Dogs are considered one of the lowest forms of life, Nitassinan/Labrador. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1993.
The Innu village of Sheshatshiu, Labrador. Lovers, Cecilia Rich and Germaine Penashue, Sheshatshiu. Behind Germaine’s brother Sylvester is passed out on the floor.
Innu society is not particularly comfortable with overt displays of affection between members of the opposite sex, let alone between same-sex couples, so life for this pair is particularly challenging.
Sylvester Penashue is a member of the lost generation whose parents' identities were solidly formed as traditional hunters and gatherers, and whose children are becoming politicized to fight for their Innu cause. In Sylvester’s case, despite pressures from the Catholic Church and both governments, his parents Pien and Lizette Penashue persisted in taking their children to the country. When Sylvester can get himself to the country he is able to function with purpose, competency and confidence derived from life-long learning .
John and Mary Charlotte Abraham in the midst of a four-day drinking binge, Sheshatshit.
The Innu blame the institutionallized purposelessness of village life for the plague of alcohol abuse which is then associated with many of the remaining social pathologies of their communities. Though alcoholism has been rampant for several decades, since the period represented in these photographs (1989-’93), the Innu have apparently been making a concerted effort to address such problems through Alcoholics Anonymous, healing circles, sweat lodges and their own formal inquiries.
Sheshatshit, Nitassinan/Labrador.
Jackie and John Ashini grieve with their brother Patrick over the loss of their infant niece to the mysterious Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Such setbacks are all the more discouraging to these struggling people when they occur in the wilderness as this one did. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1990.
The Innu village of Sheshatshiu, Nitassinan/Labrador. Innu children abandoned by their parents and baby-sitters all of whom have gone drinking
Innu Elders, Matthew and Louisa Benuen in their home, Sheshatshit, Nitassinan/Labrador. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1990.
George Nuna and little George watch as logs, harvested by non-Innu business people and bound for use in Turkish mine shafts, are loaded on a ship at Goose Bay.
There is only one cinema in the area and it is on the military base. Members of the Innu village gather in the then newly built community centre to view a made-for-TV VCR movie docu-dramatization of the Donald Marshall Story, Sheshatshit, Nitassinan/Labrador. The movie tells of the famous case of a Micmac native man who, as a result of a police cover-up, was erroneously imprisoned for over a decade for murder he never committed. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1990.
Family members and friends nurse Innu matriarch, Mani Pasteen, in her home on her deathbed, Sheshatshit.
Family and friends bury one of the village matriarchs, Mani Pasteen.
Sheshatshiu, Nitassinan/Labrador. Elder Michel Pasteen comforts his dying wife, village matriarch, Mani Pasteen, at home in their bedroom. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1993.
Family members and friends nurse Innu matriarch, Mani Pasteen, in her home on her deathbed, Sheshatshit.
Preparing for Mani Pasteen’s wake, granddaughter Helen Michel sweeps away the ubiquitous Labrador sand tracked into Mani’s bedroom by a stream of curious grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, Sheshatshit.
Mani Pasteen’s grandsons act has her pall bearers, escorting her coffin by pick-up truck to her funeral, Sheshatshit.
Pashanish Pone weeps as she files past the casket of her great-grandmother, Mani Pasteen, at a funeral that embraces both Catholic and traditional Innu beliefs and rituals. The funeral is held in the local school gymansium, rather than the village church, to accomodate the unusually large gathering of friends and relatives who’ve come to say a final good-bye to this beloved elder, Sheshatshit, Nitassinan/Labrador. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1993.
A rock cod soon to become part of a funeral feast, Sheshatshit, Nitassinan/Labrador.
Logging near the Four Mile Road.
German miliary personnel at their club celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Penashue Camp, Lake Minnipi. Innu boys practice hunting on the beach near their campsite. Innu Children learn early to partcipate in family living activities. Girls learn to make and maintain camp; boys to hunt. The Penashues spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
A Luftwaffe ground crewman uses a bicycle to shorten travel-time across the expanse of tarmac between the hanger and the jets as German flight crews prepare for another day of low-level training missions over Nitassinan/Labrador. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1990
A German Tornado ground crewman helps his pilot buckle up in preparation for a low-level training mission over Nitassinan/Labrador, Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay, Nitassinan/Labrador.
A German F-14 Phantom reconnaissance training jet swoops low to avoid radar detection by hiding itself against the rugged Nitassinan/Labrador terrain. In earlier days of the international agreement between Canada and the NATO allies participating in the NATO Low-level Tactical Training Centre at Canadian Forces Goose Bay, the official rationale given for choosing this region was that the terrain of Labrador resembled Russia, and that the jets were only being trained for defensive purposes. However in the wake of thawed East-West relations and the offensive use of NATO low-level fighter jets in both the Gulf War and The Balkans, and the rising voice of protest against conducting such training maneuvres over Western Europe, NATO has been obliged to admit that Labrador/Nitassinan is simply a convenient, if contentious, training venue. Officially the jets are permitted to fly as low as 30 metres at speeds up to 840 Kph, but German pilots have admitted, on the condition that their identities are withheld, to frequent breaches of those restrictions, particularly during practice aerial dog-fights. In 1990 alone, there were three crashes of NATO jets. Their real causes, as well as those of others over the years, remain classified information. Copyright Sibbald, 1990.
While awaiting the return of jets from their training missions, German ground crew play the electronic game, Prisoner of War, during their break in the German Air Force hanger coffee room, Canadian Forces Base, Goose Bay.
On his way to check a caribou hide drying on a spruce frame, Innu elder Spatieish (Sabastian) Penunsi pauses to reflect on the roar of a near-flying fighter jet through the fog, Four Mile Road, Nitassinan/Labrador. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1989.
Steve Riche checking rabbit (wabush) snares
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Andrew Family Camp, Dominion Lake, Nitassinan/Labrador. Trevor Hurley watches a helicopter depart after it has dropped family members and supplies. The Andrews spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Penashue Camp, Melee Mountains. Elder Matthew Penashue discards wash water after doing the breakfast dishes. The Penashues spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Penashue Camp, Mealy Mountains, Nitassinan/Labrador Innu elder, Matthew Penashue dresses his adopted grandson during his morning routine in the country. The Penashues spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
Matthew (Kanituakuet) Penashue
In an historic meeting, Clyde Wells, the Newfoundland Premier visits the Innu on their terms. The Premier ( background left) and his Provincial Land Claims Negotiator Ray Hawco (foreground centre) listen to Innu testimonials as a condition of negotiations with the Innu to end a logging road blockade, Grand Lake Road, Nitassinan/Labrador, 1991.
Manotick, Ontario. Innu elder Tshaunkuesh (Elizabeth) Penashue and friends brave 20th century traffic along some of Canada's most heavily travelled highways during a three month, 850 kilometer, protest walk spreading word of their struggle against NATO low-level flying above Nitassinan, land that they consider to be theirs. The fighter jets travel the same distance as the three month walk in about one hour.
Mealy Mountains, Nitassinan/Labrador.
In preparation for the leadership position he would eventually occupy, Peter Penashue would take inspirational reading with him into the country, in this case, Gandhi's On Nonviolence. Penashue is now President of the Innu Nation (1993).
Ottawa, Canada. The Nation's Capital
Three days after her three month walk, Elizabeth Penashue is arrested for blocking employee access to the Department of National Defence Headquarters during a Remembrance Day civil disobedience action protesting low-level flight training over Nitassinan. Copyright Peter Sibbald, 1990.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Andrew family camp, Dominion Lake, Nitassinan/Labrador.In the country, young Innu children play an active role in most jobs around the camp. When a task is more complex, such as the butchering of a caribou, the children learn from their elders by quietly standing by and watching.Here, Elena Andrew with one of her father's then illegal (the laws have since been changed) caribou. The Andrews spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Penashue Camp, Lake Minnipi. Tshaukuesh (Elizabeth) Penashue loads her granddaughter with freshly gathered balsam boughs which will be used to maintain and replace dried boughs in the fregrant floor of the family tent. Innu Children learn early to partcipate in famliy living activities. Girls learn to make and maintain camp; boys to hunt. The Penashues spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Andrew family camp, Dominion Lake, Nitassinan/Labrador.While living in the country, the Innu family of Emmet and Yvonne Nuna enjoy a rare respite from the alcoholic strain of life at other times of the year when they reside in the community of Sheshatshit. Yet this joy is undermined by constant fears of being overflown by low-level NATO fighter jets. Members of the extended Andrew familiy spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Penashue Camp, Lake Minnipi. Francis Penashue lolls on the floor of his tent playing with his grandchildren while his wife Tshaukuesh (Elizabeth) Penashue prepares a meal of fresh duck and bannock on their home-made wood stove. The Penashues spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Andrew family camp, Dominion Lake, Nitassinan/Labrador.Far from the trials and tribulations of some of the families left in the government built community of Sheshatshit, Innu children living "in country" look to the natural landscape for a playground. The Innu refer to this land as Nitassinan meaning "Our land". From RETURN TO NITASSINAN/HOMELAND.
Andrew Family Camp, Dominion Lake, Nitassinan/Labrador. The Andrews spend several months a year in the bush reclaiming their traditional Innu culture and passing it on to their children and grand-children.
