Environmental and Health Benefi ts of Hunting Lifestyles and Diets 127population would avail themselves of the opportunities to experience healthier and
more meaningful activities in the country and remove themselves from the many
sources of suffering and pain in the villages. A Band Council commissioned study
of Tshiskutamashun, an Innu experiential learning project in the country in 1999,
found widespread support for its continued existence, with unanimous support
among adults (Samson, 2000/01; Samson, 2003a, pp218–221).
Promote ecotourism
At present, the Innu are almost totally reliant on funds from the Canadian state for
their village-based livelihoods. Ecotourism provides an opportunity to build a
small Innu economy that would encourage more contact with the country, while
also having little ecological impact on the landscape. Possible projects could include
many of those now being formulated by the Tshikapisk Foundation, an organiza-
tion of Innu hunting families dedicated to revitalizing Innu country life through
specifically Innu educational projects and revenue-generating activities. The Foun-
dation has secured funds for the construction of an Innu cultural centre at
Kamestastin Lake. From Kamestastin and other locations, the unspoiled terrain of
boreal forests, rivers and tundra affords numerous opportunities for fishing, cari-
bou migration viewing, trekking, cross-country skiing and variants of cultural
tourism in which clients would share in Innu country activities of fishing, hunting
and gathering. Paying clients would also be involved in learning camp skills, Innu
crafts and events would be organized so that we would hear about the history of
the Innu, including Innu legends and cosmology. Ecotourism along these lines
could provide valuable funding for the various Tshikapisk experiential learning
projects by which Innu youth could undertake a rigorous curriculum of Innu
learning and be exposed to country life for a prolonged period of time. Equally
important is that ecotourism could provide employment for those Innu preferring
a more country-based life, lessening their dependence on welfare and government
funds (Tshikapisk Foundation, 2004).
Amend the school calendar
A relatively simple adjustment to the school calendar could be made to assist Innu
families with balancing country activities and village obligations. At present, school-
children are in session during the most important hunting seasons, the autumn and
spring, and are on vacation during the long summer months when the presence of
blackflies and the migration patterns of the animals make hunting less desirable. The
Innu themselves and outside researchers including Henriksen (1993, p6) for the
Mushuau Innu of Davis Inlet and Samson (2000/01) on behalf of the Sheshatshiu
Innu Band Council have made recommendations to the Labrador School Board to
change the calendar, but no action has been taken by the authorities.
In Quebec where several school boards have been devolved to Innu control,
modifications to the school calendar, enabling Innu children to participate in