The political rhetoric of social problems: gasoline sniffing among the Innu of Labrador

Pollard, Deidre (2006) The political rhetoric of social problems: gasoline sniffing among the Innu of Labrador. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

In 1993, six Innu youth from Davis Inlet were the focus of a home video that showed them high on gasoline fumes and shouting suicidal threats. The release of this video to media was undertaken by Innu representatives who claimed that they could not help their children and requested that the governments offer aid to treat these children and numerous others in the community. This 'crisis' changed the way in which negotiations took place between Innu and governments, as the gasoline sniffing home video was part of a political agenda of Innu leaders to embarrass the governments into taking action. Undertaking a social constructionist perspective and Critcher's natural history model, the gasoline sniffing crises of Labrador Innu communities of Davis Inlet and Sheshatshiu are examined to determine who was involved in bringing attention to this 'problem', what the political stakes were in their involvement as well as some of the intended and unintended consequences of this media spectacle.

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