Naskapi
Nation of Kawawachikamach The Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach has approximately 680 members, the vast majority of whom live in the Village of Kawawachikamach, some 15 kilometers north-east of Schefferville. The Naskapis and their ancestors have occupied the interior of the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula since time immemorial. The Naskapis traditionally led a nomadic existence, following the caribou herds from Hudson Bay in the west to the Labrador Coast in the east. They congregated only temporarily at the various posts of the Hudson's Bay Company and at favoured hunting locations, such as Indian House Lake on the George River. The Hudson's Bay Company subjected the Naskapi to several locations to the Fort Chimo, Fort Nascopie, and Fort McKenzie posts between the mid 1800s and the mid 1900s, according to its commercial needs and interests. In 1956, the Naskapis settled at Schefferville. After moving to John Lake and Matimekosh, the Naskapi relocated to Kawawachikamach in the early 1980s. The Naskapi signed a comprehensive land-claims settlement, the Northeastern Québec Agreement ("NEQA"), with the governments of Quebec and Canada, among others, in 1978. Among the rights and benefits recognized by the NEQA is the right to hunt, fish, and trap virtually without restriction throughout a defined area. Harvesting activities remain at the core of Naskapi economic and cultural life. Virtually all members of the community hunt, fish and trap, and a substantial number of Naskapis continue to depend upon the harvesting of wildlife, particularly caribou, to sustain themselves and their families. In 1984, the Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act, Canada's first Aboriginal self-government legislation, was signed, transferring to the Naskapi Band of Quebec many powers of local government formerly exercised by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. N.B. The Inuit of Nunavik, through Makivik Corporation, holds a joint appointment on the Board with the Naskapi Band of Québec. The joint appointment has a two-year rotation for each group. Contact |
