In the past, the Cree of Eeyou Istchee had no centralized government. Our system of tallymen to define and enforce our traplines was perhaps the only way we had some control over the territory beyond our communities.
The federal Indian Affairs Department did create local band councils, but they were simply that – local and politically unconnected to other Cree communities. Some of our smaller communities were absorbed into larger ones in order to simplify things – at least for the Canadian government.
So, what led to a centralized government for the Cree? Chiefs had been used to working together as needed, for instance in the creation of beaver preserves when non-Cree threatened to decimate beaver populations. However, the roots of a central Cree government are in Canada’s 1898 and 1912 Quebec Boundaries Extension Acts.
A part of the law that made Eeyou Istchee part of Quebec stipulated that before the province could do anything there, they had to make treaties with the Indigenous Peoples living in the region. But no effort was made to negotiate treaties in the North.
Bounce ahead to the early 1970s. Newly elected Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa was having intense wet dreams about building the La Grande hydroelectric project, which would create vast inland seas due to the flat nature of the land along the La Grande River.
Crees were alarmed once they found out – by radio and newspapers. No one thought to tell us that huge parts of our traditional territory would be flooded. As you can guess, there had been no surrender of rights of Eeyou Istchee by the Cree. The Cree as usual were ignored and discounted by the colonial powers that claimed ownership of the land.
After the landmark Malouf decision ruled that Quebec indeed had to respect the law and deal with the Cree, Hydro-Québec and the federal and provincial governments needed someone to negotiate with. In other words, the Cree needed a centralized body to represent them.
Thus, in 1974 the Grand Council of the Crees was created. The following year the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement would be signed. It was touted as the first modern treaty and was nothing like any of the non-Cree parties expected. It would take decades to be fulfilled and to this day still has some unfinished business.
One has to admire the ups and downs faced by the Grand Council over the past half century. The Cree started out with nothing but have made their mark on the national and international stage.
Some say the Cree referendum in response to Quebec’s sovereignty vote in 1995 is what killed it. A plan to harness the Great Whale River for another dam complex was stopped by a multitude of means. The most noticeable were the Cree going to the New England area of the US to plead their case to residents and to their state governments that made the difference. When a regional government was created for the James Bay region, the Cree made sure they were a part of that body.
In short, while there have been complaints, there are also reasons to cheer. In comparison to most governments in the world we are just youngsters and are continuing to grow. It’ll be interesting to see what the next 50 years will hold for the Cree and the Cree Nation Government.