Labrador Innu cultural and environmental activist Tshaukuesh
Elizabeth Penashue led the Innu campaign against NATO’S low –level flying and
bomb testing on Innu land during the 1980s and 90’s. She was also a key
respondent in a landmark legal case in which the judge held that the Innu had
the “colour of right” to occupy the Canadian Forces base in Goose Bay,
Labrador. Over the past twenty years she has led walks and canoe trips in
nutshimit, “on the land.” to teach people about Innu culture and knowledge.
Nitinikiau Innusi: I keep the Land Alive began as a diary
written in Innu-aimun, in which Tshaukuesh recorded day-to-day experiences,
court appearances, and interviews with reporters. Along with documenting what
was happening to the Innu and their land, Tshaukuesh found keeping a diary
therapeutic, and her writing evolved from brief notes into a detailed account
of her own life and reflections on Innu land, culture, politics, and history.
