Earlier this week, the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) wrote to our citizens about a deeply concerning lecture that was being presented by Darryl Leroux at Memorial University in St. John’s on October 21, 2024. It was called “Proximity, Pain & Pretendians: Towards a Framework.”
NCC is pleased to report that approximately 20 members and supporters attended the lecture. Nakummek to those who took time to attend. Our people made it very clear to Memorial that bringing in Mr. Leroux, whose work has already caused significant harm to NunatuKavut Inuit and has incited lateral violence, is unacceptable.
Back in 2022, NCC demanded a retraction of a report that Nunatsiavut Government commissioned Mr. Leroux to write about our people. NCC identified that the report completely ignored academic and historical evidence about Inuit in Labrador and did not align with the facts of history. Furthermore, we questioned the erroneous conclusions contained in the report, noting that they were unsubstantiated, harmful and discriminatory.
During the lecture, Mr. Leroux was questioned about the report. In his response, he was quoted as saying: “The report is not mine. It belongs to Nunatsiavut. No one in this room has seen the original report.” It was very apparent that Mr. Leroux was distancing himself from the report and making it clear that there were substantive changes made by Nunatsiavut before being released publicly. When people can’t stand by their claims, such as those being made about our people and our very existence, they try to rewrite narratives based on what they want you to believe. This is the case for the report commissioned by the Nunatsiavut Government and authored by Mr. Leroux. This is the case for Memorial University who continues to support so-called experts like Mr. Leroux.
Given the ancestral place of NunatuKavut Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador and, given the role of Memorial University to serve all people of this province, it is reprehensible that they would see fit to uphold this lecture as an example of academic integrity. The university continues to cause irreparable harm to NunatuKavut Inuit, specifically, and other Indigenous peoples throughout the province.
To view NCC’s original response to Mr. Leroux’s report and to download a copy of Dr. Debbie Martin’s rebuttal to the report, please click here.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Debbie Martin, taken during the lecture at Memorial University. Pictured left to right: Bonnie Acreman, Amy Peddle and Dr. Debbie Martin.