Place and Forest Co-management in Nitassinan/Labrador By © Carolina Tytelman. A dissertation submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology Memorial University of Newfoundland August 2016 St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador Abstract The focus of this dissertation is on the relationships between the Innu people of Labrador and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, through the practices of production of their respective places: Nitassinan and Labrador. I argue that Nitassinan and Labrador are different places, which co-exist uneasily, sometimes in open opposition. These places are product of an assemblage of practices and relations of human and non-human persons and other agents. I centre my analysis in the process of forest co-management of Forest District 19a (Labrador/Nitassinan) between the Innu Nation and the provincial government in order to explore the intersections of these two places in the context of the current relationship between the Innu people and the provincial government, in a milieu that continues to be colonial. While co-management processes are often considered to be a way of empowerment for aboriginal people, I argue that the co-management process analysed here primarily reinforced and facilitated the types of practices of place that produced Labrador. However, amidst these practices, the Innu people and, in institutional terms, the Innu Nation, were able to carry on some practices of place that allowed for the continuation of the production of Nitassinan. Acknowledgements This dissertation is the result of a long process, through which I received invaluable help and support from many people and institutions. In the first place, I am profoundly indebted to the Innu people of Sheshatshiu, who welcomed me and my family to their community and to their land, who shared their experiences and stories, and who patiently answered my questions. ii Special thanks to the people who took us to nutshimit and took good care of us while we were there. The late Antuan Penashue, his wife Philomena, and the group of hunters camping at Ozzie’s Brook. Also, to the Andrew family, who welcomed us and looked after us in Kapanien Nipi, especially to Nikashant Andrew, his wife Jenny, Guy Andrew and Emma Jack and Sylvester Antuan and Elizabeth Antuan. I also would like to express my gratitude to all the authorities and staff of the Innu Nation Environment Office. Thanks for share your space, your knowledge, (and your coffee!) with me. In particular, thanks to Valerie Courtois, for all your help and insights not just about the Innu world, but also about forestry and for sharing your experiences in intercultural contexts. Thanks also to Paul and Etienne Pone, Guy Playfair, Richard Nuna, Paula Reid, Miki Rich and David Hart. Thanks also to Anthony Jenkinson, who accommodated us in Kamistastin Lake when we arrived unannounced, and who always shared his knowledge and insight on the Innu world. Thanks to Louis Rich for all your help as a research assistant during the first months of our fieldwork, and to Francine Nuna who briefly worked in the same role. I would like to recognize the support and collaboration of the members of the Forest Management Committee. Thanks for welcomed me into your meetings, and thanks for taking the time to discuss your experiences in the co-management process with me. This work would not have been possible without the resources and support provided by the Sustainable Forest Management Network, the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) and the Labrador Institute, whose support was fundamental during my iii fieldwork. I would particularly like to thank the Labrador Institute former director, Keith Chalk, its former secretary, Beatrice Dickers and Martha McDonald. Your concerns for our wellbeing were very much appreciated. I would like to specially thank my supervisor, Mario Blaser, whose guide was fundamental for rethinking my research and organizing my ideas. I would like to extend my gratitude to the members of my supervisory committee: Mark Tate and Adrian Tanner for their thoughtful comments and suggestions. I would also like to express my gratitude to my former co- supervisors, David Natcher, who introduced me to the problematic of co-management and facilitated my research, and August Carbonella, who offered valuable comments on an early version of this dissertation. I would like to thank friends and colleagues in Canada and Argentina. To Andrea Procter, for her help and support, and the late Jean Briggs for her encouragement. Also to Sebastian Valverde and the members of his research group, particularly Florencia Tentrini, for opening spaces to rethink and compare aboriginal/state relationships in different contexts. I am particularly indebted to Alex Ambrozic for his help editing this work. Thanks also to Tina Scott, always ready to help. Doing research (and for the matter, anything else) with young children requires a network of support. I would like to extend my appreciation to all the daycare, after-school and summer camps workers, teachers and baby sitters who collaborated on my kids care and education; and to the friends around the world who helped us in a way or another, particularly to my friends in St. John’s who are our family here. iv I would also want to thank my family in Argentina, particularly my siblings Ezequiel, Malena and Alejandro, my mother-in-law, Verónica, for her assistance, and specially my parents Edit and Norberto, who always support (and do their best to understand) my choices. Finally, to my family: thanks for illuminate everything. To my children, Lorenzo and Jazmín, thanks for opening new worlds, and for being patience when I get lost in my old one. And thanks to my husband, Damián Castro, for reading multiple version of this dissertation, for providing feedback and encouragement, but, above all, thanks for the shared dreams and the shared adventures. Tsheneskematin. Thanks. Gracias. v Table of content ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................................... II TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................................................................. VI TABLE OF MAPS AND TABLES ............................................................................................................................. IX INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 This is Nitassinan .................................................................................................................................... 1 PLACE AND CO-MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................................................... 4 The Innu of Labrador and the co-management process ........................................................................ 7 SPACE AND PLACE, CULTURE AND NATURE .......................................................................................................... 12 NITASSINAN AND LABRADOR AS PLACES: APPROACHES IN THE LITERATURE ................................................................ 19 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................ 32 DISSERTATION ORGANIZATION .......................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER 1: NITASSINAN, THE INNU LAND ............................................................................................. 44 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 44 NITASSINAN AS A COMPLEX WEB OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS .................................................................................... 44 INNU VALUES ................................................................................................................................................ 51 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND TERRITORY .............................................................................................................. 60 NITASSINAN, NUTSHIMIT AND THE SETTLEMENTS .................................................................................................. 68 NITASSINAN, GENDERED PLACE ......................................................................................................................... 75 CARTOGRAPHIES OF NITASSINAN ...................................................................................................................... 79 A PLACE OF RELATIONSHIPS .............................................................................................................................. 90 CHAPTER 2: LABRADOR .......................................................................................................................... 92 vi INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 92 PRODUCING LABRADOR .................................................................................................................................