Negotiating a way of life : initial Cree experience with the administrative structure arising from the James Bay Agreement
On June 29, 1971, the leaders of the Cree hunting bands of northern Quebec met together for the first time in history. They came to Mistassini Post to discuss the implications of an announcement by the premier of Quebec, who, two months previously, had revealed that the province was to initiate a major hydro-electric development which involved the harnessing to the rivers of the James Bay watershed. These rivers were the centre of James Bay hunting territories. During the three-day meeting, the Cree chiefs resolved to protest as strongly as possible, the flooding of their traditional lands, and through a petition, requested the Minister of Indian Affairs to intervene on their behalf. Thus begins the saga of the James Bay Cree and the James Bay Project.-- Prologue
Livre imprimé, English, 1979, ©1983
Research Division, Dept. of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa, 1979, ©1983