Following moving presentations at the Cree annual general assembly in August, momentum is building to finally establish a village for the Washaw Sibi community. As the long-displaced people secure Category 1A lands transferred from other Cree communities, construction may soon begin on a site near Matagami.
Historically occupying lands south of Waskaganish – between La Sarre and the mouth of the Harricana River – Washaw Sibi members were divided between Hudson Bay posts on both sides of the Quebec-Ontario border when the Canadian government pushed them onto existing reserves in the 1960s.
Many were forced to join the Algonquin reserve of Pikogan near Amos. While living under a different First Nation resulted in culture loss and incidents of racism over the years, official recognition in 2003 as Eeyou Istchee’s 10th Cree community sparked hopes for a permanent home.
After studying a dozen different sites over the past two decades, a community vote in 2023 resulted in 87% choosing a spot just east of Matagami, south of the Bell River. Matagami municipal council granted access to the land, and bi-monthly meetings update progress while ground and water studies are conducted.
“I can’t say we’re 100% sure it’s in Matagami, but so far it looks promising,” said Washaw Sibi Chief Annie Mapachee-Salt. “[Members] have some questions about hunting rights, but I think these are things we can work out. We already have our hunting grounds – we’re there to have a home.”
Under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, Category 1A lands are designated for a community’s exclusive use. Mapachee-Salt toured the nine Cree communities in 2021, asking each to transfer one square kilometre that they can’t use so Washaw Sibi would have its own protected lands.
While five communities have so far agreed to this transfer, Waskaganish was asked at its recent AGA if it could donate an additional five square kilometres. Mapachee-Salt explained that many Washaw Sibi members are affiliated with Waskaganish, which has 490 sq km of Category 1A lands.
A presentation to explain their request to Waskaganish was scheduled for October 20. “Our great-grandparents did come from Waskaganish,” noted Mapachee-Salt. “We’ll need to do a referendum with the community.”
Washaw Sibi’s upcoming AGA in Amos, which hosts the community’s administrative office, will include a special meeting about this proposed referendum on October 28. As the community move gains traction, Mapachee-Salt has been sharing its unique history with both Matagami and Cree audiences.
“There are a lot of people who still question who we are, where we are and where we came from,” she said. “Youth especially need to be informed. Many people assume we come from Waskaganish. I found a picture from 1924 of our Cree people who lived in La Sarre.”
Ouje-Bougoumou was similarly transferred lands from Mistissini following its creation in 1992. Former Grand Chief Abel Bosum – who was instrumental in establishing Ouje – is now helping guide Washaw Sibi. Bosum previously told the Nation that the Cree Nation’s political influence and the economic benefits for Matagami’s dwindling population will be keys to the project’s success.
While Ouje-Bougoumou was the first community to agree to transfer land to Washaw Sibi, Chief Gaston Cooper recently expressed concerns about the JBNQA’s potential limitations. While Cree communities continue to expand, allotted Category 1A lands appear fixed.
“How can we ensure for our future generations that that Category 1A land is going to grow to meet their needs?” asked Cooper. “It’s something we need to revisit to see how we can be at an even playing field. We need to grow too.”
Washaw Sibi is also advised by James O’Reilly, the Cree Nation’s lead lawyer in the titanic battle resulting in the JBNQA. Among other successful battles, O’Reilly also helped secure Ouje-Bougoumou’s rights. He suggested that Washaw Sibi was overlooked during JBNQA negotiations because members were generally assumed – even by Crees – to be a southern branch of Waskaganish.
“One option is to sue, saying we’ve been here a long time and were missed by the JBNQA, just as Ouje-Bougoumou was,” asserted O’Reilly. “My strategy would be no more deals with Quebec until you agree for a new community for Washaw Sibi. The CNG has been weighing whether they can gain more from negotiations or going to litigation.”
While understanding why Washaw Sibi would choose “the more diplomatic option,” O’Reilly questioned the assumption that the JBNQA’s allotment of Category 1A lands was a maximum, noting that Indigenous rights have evolved significantly in the past 50 years. He said a referendum to cede these land requires a 65% quorum of a community’s eligible voters, a threshold made deliberately high to protect Cree land rights.
Although 2008’s New Relationship Agreement with Canada stated the Crees would pay for a community’s establishment, O’Reilly argued that responsibility for its operations and management is an unresolved question. The ancestral rights of Washaw Sibi members in Ontario are another potential complication. Quebec and Canada also have to agree to the plan.
“Annie and her group are persevering against tremendous odds,” said O’Reilly. “They should get a lot of credit for going against the headwinds. A big detail is how many people will actually move – it’s one thing to be a member, it’s another to move.”
Washaw Sibi membership is estimated to be about 700. Mapachee-Salt said that with many settled in houses and jobs the number expected to initially move to the new site is closer to 200. Newly elected Youth Chief Shayna Polson is one of those determined to move and “build the 10th Cree community from the ground up.”
Polson’s rousing speech at the CNG’s AGA highlighted that youth will need to do the “heavy lifting” to see their “sovereignty take shape in the soil.” She promised to ensure youth are directly involved in the planning of a modern, sustainable community, “deeply rooted in Eeyou values and respect for the Earth.”
Visiting the site this summer, Polson envisioned developing a gathering place by the river as an early community-building step. Thanking Washaw Sibi’s generations of leaders for guiding them to “the edge of history,” she challenged youth to look toward Matagami’s horizon and find their role in its future.
“We cannot just wait for the village to be built – we must build ourselves up to run it,” Polson said. “Look ahead 5 to 10 years. We’ll see our determination made visible, a sanctuary where our culture can flourish forever. Let’s get to work, let’s stand united and let’s build our home.”
‘Let’s get to work, let’s stand united and let’s build our home’ – Washaw Sibi Youth Chief Shayna Polson