The people of Sheshatshit and their fellow Innu attracted world-wide attention with a campaign, waged for several years, against low-level flying exercises conducted over their land by NATO airforces. These Innu have occupied the Lake Melville region since ancient times and have a vast network of relationships throughout Quebec and Labrador. This book describes their social organization and hierarchy, the evolution of Innu speech, kinship and its role in their lives, and how they "occupy" immense territory. Their "territorial battles" are based on their connection with the land and their ideas of sovereignty and responsibility.

José Mailhot first visited Sheshatshit in 1963, when she was a student in the University of Montreal's Department of Anthropology. During the next three decades she was to conduct exhaustive research on the culture, language, and history of the Innu people in Quebec and Labrador. At present, she is also involved in projects for Innu literacy development and text editing.

José Mailhot's profile page

Axel Harvey's profile page

"....this is a fine work of discerning scholarship that will reward readers both inside and outside of the academy."

Noel Dyck, Newfoundland and Labrador Studies