Memorial University won't recognize NunatuKavut in new Indigenous verification policy

The NunatuKavut Community Council says its willing to fight against Memorial University for leaving the group out of its new Indigenous verification policy. 

NunatuKavut president Todd Russell says the draft policy was written "so that NunatuKavut Inuit would be basically erased as an Indigenous people."

NunatuKavut represents 6,000 self-identifying Inuit in south and central Labrador. The group, which identified itself as the Labrador Métis Nation until 2010, is not recognized Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national representative organization for the Inuit in Canada.

Russell says he's not shocked by MUN's decision. He says the university informed him that NunatuKavut would be excluded from consultations with Indigenous groups. 

The new policy draft comes after former university president Vianne Timmons was removed for claiming to be part of an unrecognized Mi'kmaq band for years. 

Now, the university will require Indigenous students and faculty to verify their Indigenous identity to access grants, scholarships and jobs. Self-declaration is no longer sufficient for obtaining Indigenous opportunities.