Quebec Inuit seek apology, compensation for slaughter of sled dogs

MONTREAL (CP) - Quebec's Inuit want a government apology and financial compensation for a mass slaughter of sled dogs that they claim plunged their remote communities into decades of dependency.
"The very core of Inuit life was abolished by the slaughter," Makivik Corp. president Pita Aatami says in Echo of the Last Howl, a recently released documentary. Aatami said the shootings between the mid-1950s and late '60s marked a critical stage in the life of his people because they led to the disappearance of the natives' traditional skills and way of life.

More than 500 dogsled teams occupied 15 communities in northern Quebec when the population totalled 2,500 in 1965, said Lisa Koperqualuk, a spokeswoman for Makivik, which represents Inuit in Quebec.

About 10,000 Inuit now reside north of the 55th parallel in a vast territory known as Nunavik.

Without access to the sled dogs, hunters were unable to trap and provide income for their families. It created a level of dependency and physical inaction that prompted many to drink heavily and simply wait for monthly welfare cheques, Echo of the Last Howl states.

Government officials viewed stray dogs as a health threat because of rabies. Some of the animals were also blamed for attacks on people, including a child who died.

The Inuit say the dogs were far from dangerous and actually helped save the lives of hunters by guiding them home in severe snowstorms, rescuing them when they fell through ice and protecting them from wild animals.

"The dogs were crucial to the Inuit people before the invasion of civilization," Aatami says in the 54-minute Echo of the Last Howl, which was screened in Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec this week.

Snow machines replaced the animals. Although they brought speed to the tundra, the costly devices couldn't replace the hunting prowess the dogs had provided.

Aatami said the slaughter reminded him of Canada's internment of Japanese during the Second World War.

"I believe we should get the same treatment, even after all this time, for destroying our way of life," he said.

The Canadian government apologized in 1988 for its actions against Japanese Canadians and awarded $21,000 for each survivor of the wartime detention.

The compensation being sought by the Inuit hasn't been tabulated but the money would benefit hundreds of families who relied on dogsledding, Koperqualuk said in an interview from Kuujjuaq.

A spokesman for Benoit Pelletier, Quebec's native affairs minister, said the government won't comment until it receives a letter containing the request from the Inuit community.

The slaughter of Inuit dogs, known as Qimmiit, has long been a sore spot for community members. In 2000, Makivik and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association lodged official complaints with both levels of government and sought public inquiries.

Echo of the Last Howl is a renewed attempt to prompt government action by educating the public.

"The public will see and be informed now of what happened," Koperqualuk said.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said he will press for an inquiry into the slaughter.

"Who took the decision?" Duceppe said during a tour of northern Quebec this week.

"What was the purpose?"

The Makivik-sponsored film presents the personal recollections of those who lived through the slaughter.

"It seems they just wanted to wipe out the Inuit by getting rid of their livelihood," says one elder, one of some 100 people interviewed for the documentary.

The recollections are mixed with old photographs and re-creations of sledding that once dominated the open plains of snow and ice.

Compliant Inuit are seen shepherding their dogs to a bay where police shot the animals. Mounds of the dead huskies were later burned.

"The sounds of gunshots merged with our little ones' shouts and cries," says one witness. "We were powerless, paralysed, silenced, anguished like hounded beasts."

While the killings may have been based on concern for health and public safety, the governments didn't consult the Inuit, says a 24-page Inuit submission to Quebec and Ottawa.

"The governments were negligent in the manner in which they approached what they considered to be a problem with Qimmiit in Nunavik communities and negligent in the devise and implementation of their solutions," the document says.

Dogsledding has experienced a resurgence among the Inuit since 1999. About 30 teams participate in recreational races. Few still engage in hunting.

© The Canadian Press, 2005