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Happy Valley, Labrador
New healing centre provides hope for Labrador Innu


A hunting and fishing lodge in Labrador, purchased with the help of Mennonite Central Committee Canada, is being converted into a healing centre for the Innu of northern Labrador.

Located near the Labrador-Quebec border, Lobstick Lodge will provide a wilderness location for Innu seeking to heal their shattered lives.

“In addition to addressing basic medical needs, we know that we need to address our social and family maintenance needs through a complete healing plan,” says Sheshatshiu Band Council Chief Paul Rich. “This program is based on the belief that the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health in both the individual and the family is crucial to healing.”

Among the world’s last nomadic people, the Innu were encouraged by the Canadian government to settle in communities along the Labrador coast in the 1950s and 60s. In exchange, they were promised government support. What followed was the collapse of their culture and a profound sense of hopelessness resulting in overwhelming social problems.

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador bought the Lodge and officially transferred ownership to the Sheshatshiu Innu Band Council on November 16, 2001. MCC Canada provided $100,000 in financial assistance to ensure that the deal would go through. Total cost of the Lodge was $550,000. Meanwhile, the federal government has committed itself to paying the $1.1 million annual operating costs of the Lodge. Continued funding for the project will be reviewed on an annual basis by the federal and provincial governments.

“As a Western culture, we did not (initially) come here to make friends. We came to exploit the land and force these people to adopt our way of life,” says Claude Queval, who is the MCC Labrador voluntary service coordinator with his wife Muriel. “We share responsibility for the situation in which they (the Innu) have found themselves. We cannot fix their problems, but we do believe it is our responsibility to help them find the answers.”

Queval says the Sheshatshiu Band Council will be responsible for operations of the Lodge as well as its healing programs. MCC volunteers are working as program developers and facilitators to help train local Innu people to act as counsellors. He says the program will offer a combination of modern science (in the form of detoxification), counselling, and traditional healing practices. Queval says the Innu people need to re-establish their connection to the land and to their family-based traditions in order to begin the healing process.

And that healing process is what Chief Paul Rich is hoping will start his people on the long road to recovery. “Our innovative family-oriented treatment program addresses the determinants of health. It jointly develops reintegration strategies with individuals and families,” he says. “The community follow-up phase encourages personal responsibility and growth. Ultimately, the program will help to instill hope for the future for all members of the community.”

 – MCC Canada release

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Last modified April 12, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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