Title: RIGHTS-CANADA: Tragedy Draws Attention to Indigenous Problems By Mark Bourrie KANGIQSAULUJJUAQ, Canada, Jan 6 (IPS) - The social and economic problems of the indigenous Inuit in northern Canada are finally receiving political attention following an avalanche that killed nine people in this small community on New Year's Day. There is speculation among people here and in other sub-Arctic communities that the avalanche, which tore through a government- built school gymnasium while 100 people celebrated the New Year, could have been avoided had proper precautions been taken. Government consultants had told the community's leaders in 1995 that there was little risk of avalanche damage to the school, even though small snow slides had struck it before. They did recommend the government install snow fencing to protect the building, but none was built. The disaster has added to the misery of a community torn by social upheaval, substance abuse and premature death. Diabetes rates among the Inuit are among the highest in the world, while tuberculosis and other diseases spread through overcrowded living conditions are rampant. Inuit leaders have asked for financial and counselling help from southern Canada to help the community deal with the tragedy. Kangiqsaulujjuaq was built in 1966 by the Quebec provincial government as part of a programme to entice Inuit hunters to give up their nomadic lifestyle and live in Western-type villages. The Inuit later relinquished most rights to their land under a hydro agreement signed in 1975 with the Quebec government. The Quebec government built the community of 600 at the base of a treeless mountain. There is virtually no non-government employment in Kangiqsaulujjuaq, and Inuit say the social problems here, especially overcrowding, can be blamed on the policy of moving them from their wilderness camps to government towns. The climate in the region is so extreme that the funeral of the avalanche victims had to be postponed twice because of blizzards. The housing crisis is being blamed for growing social and health problems, including an increase in tuberculosis in Inuit communities. ''Some houses have 14 or even 18 people,'' said Pita Ataami, president of Makivik Corp., which oversees the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in Nunavik, the traditional name of the Inuit homeland. ''You can imagine when you are in a three-bedroom house with people,'' added Ataami. ''What do you do? We've already had cases of people with respiratory problems, cases of tuberculosis because of the overcrowding in some of the houses.'' He said there was an urgent need for at least 425 houses throughout Nunavik's 14 communities. People under the age of 20 make up 55 per cent of the region's population, but no houses are planned to cope with the community's rapidly growing population. ''I received a call just yesterday from a woman with two children who was crying over the phone saying how tired she was of having to be bounced around in two different houses because of the shortage. She wants her own home,'' said Michael Gordon, mayor of Kuujjuaq, the closest community to Kangiqsaulujjuaq. Making matters worse for the Inuit, Canada's central government and the province of Quebec are locked in a jurisdictional dispute about control over social housing in indigenous communities. ''It's like they are trying to pass the buck. Everyone is saying that the other guy has the responsibility,'' Ataami said. Nunavik, a vast, sparsely populated territory in Canada's northeastern Canada, is home to about 5,000 people. The average annual income is 7,500 U.S. dollars, but nothing is cheap in Nunavik. Bread sells for the equivalent of 1.75 U.S. dollars a loaf. A dozen eggs cost 1.60 dollar. A small, plain three-bedroom home costs at least 100,000 U.S. dollars to build because all building supplies have to be brought in by plane or boat. However, some good may come from the avalanche. Journalists from across North America have come here to cover the avalanche story and are reporting on the problems faced by the Inuit. The tragedy also attracted senior political leaders, who used the time freed up by the delay of the burials to meet with Inuit leaders. (END/IPS/MB/KB/98) Origin: ROMAWAS/RIGHTS-CANADA/ ---- [c] 1999, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) All rights reserved May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or service outside of the APC networks, without specific permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists, print media and broadcast. For information about cross- posting, send a message to . For information about print or broadcast reproduction please contact the IPS coordinator at . Conf?