Without a priest for two centuries, Innu elders had passed down Catholic faith traditions from when the community was evangelized in the 1600s by the Jesuits. To this day, the Innu consider themselves a Catholic community, said Fortune, a missionary from the diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador.
Fortune was in Toronto April 25 as guest speaker at the annual Tastes of Heaven dinner held in Woodbridge, Ont. The dinner serves as a Catholic Missions In Canada fundraiser for the organization’s work in Canada’s mission territories.
The dinner, held this year at The Bellvue Manor, is Catholic Mission’s biggest annual fundraiser. It is catered each year under the direction of renowned chef Biagio Vinci.
The amount raised at this year’s 464-guest dinner has yet to be totalled. Last year’s dinner raised more than $323,000.
Without the support of Catholic Missions, Fortune said she would not be working in the parish of Tshukuminu St. Anne as a missionary. She is the life co-ordinator there and credits the financial support of Catholic Missions for allowing her to fund projects that the community needs, like a meal after mass, working in the clinic or turning a church garage into a community multi-purpose room, and for priests to fly to where they are needed across the vast and remote diocese.
Fortune said she wanted to leave banquet guests “with some understanding and appreciation for the people and for their faith journey and the many transitions they have come through in the last number of years.”
The community was traditionally nomadic, following the Caribou herd — a dietary staple for Innu — packing up their shelters, belongings and children when needed. About 10 years ago, the community moved from the interior at Davis Inlet to a permanent settlement in Shango Bay close to its hunting grounds. Fortune shared with diners what life is like for the community in the interior, what a modern Innu community is like now that it is 300 km inland from the coast of Labrador — accessible by plane and in summer by boat — and the steps needed to get there.
“When they were moved to Davis Inlet, the government had promised more houses and running water and a sewage system,” said Fortune, but 30 years passed.
In 1993, there was a fire and without running water six children died. About a year later, children were found almost comatose from sniffing gas, said Fortune.
“Word was getting out about the desperate situation at Davis Inlet and I think those two incidents were kind of the last straw.”
The community started moving in December 2002.
“I believe there is a dream for them, that God has a dream for them. And I guess I hope in some small way, we’re helping them to fulfill their dream, (even if ) we may not see that in our lifetime,” said Fortune.