The Pessamit Innu are relaunching an $11-billion lawsuit against Quebec, the federal government and Hydro-Québec.
Innu Chief Raphael Picard says the three parties have violated his people's rights by building 13 dams on ancestral land.
In the lawsuit, Picard claims the dams were built without the band's consent. He figures $11 billion is about the amount that Quebec society has made from the development of his band's land.
The suit was first launched in 1998 for $500 million, but Picard suspended it when he became chief four years ago.
Now he says that was a mistake, and that negotiations with the government are going nowhere.
Picard says the money will be a first step toward redressing the wrongs committed against his people.
"The first goal for my community: that the two governments respect our titles and native rights on the territory because 50 years ago, the Quebec government [did] not respect our rights and titles," Picard said Tuesday.
The $11-billion figure was calculated as the economic benefit to Quebec from the hydroelectric dams.
The lawyer representing the Innu says he's confident they will win the lawsuit because of powerful evidence proving the governments failed to protect Innu rights.