An inquiry into the mysterious deaths of two Innu men in 1977 is under way.
Quebec police said the Innu men, Moise Regis, 26, and Achille Voilant, 20, got drunk, fell into the Moisie River and drowned.
But families of the men in Maliotenam believe they were killed in a fight with two game wardens on the river.
The deaths occurred during a time of heated battles over the Innu right to fish on the river. A key witness will be Fernard Vachon, a game warden at the time who says the two men were killed.
This is the third inquiry since the men died in June 1977. A coroner said the deaths were accidental. But after a TV report suggested they died in a run-in with game wardens, the Quebec government asked police to investigate. The police upheld the coroner’s view.
“We don’t believe them,” says Louise Voilant, Achille’s sister. “I don’t believe them at all.”
