Innu and Inuit leaders raise concerns over false Indigenous identity claims - March 19, 2024

Representatives from the Innu Nation, the Nunatsiavut Government and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami hold a news conference in Ottawa to raise concerns about what they describe as non-Indigenous groups adopting Indigenous identities. Speaking with reporters are Simon Pokue (grand chief of the Innu Nation), Natan Obed (president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami), Ghislain Picard (regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec and Labrador), and Johannes Lampe (president of Nunatsiavut).
The Innu Nation launched a court challenge in 2019 after the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the NunatuKavut Community Council, which claims to represent 6,000 Inuit in central and southern Labrador. The Innu Nation has called the MOU a threat to its rights and lands.