Indigenous rights, where do we go from here? I think one of the first issues is what the First Nations of Canada call their sovereignty. Many of the First Nations have developed to the point where they want to control their own affairs, control their own destiny. Many of them do have the human resources and the financial resources to do that. But what's happening is that the laws prevent them from taking over their own affairs. Native people in Canada feel that they should be able to make their own laws for their people. I'll use hunting/fishing/trapping as an example, which is the traditional way of life of the Crees and is still very active in our society.
The Crees are natural conservationists. They watch very carefully how many animals and fish they take for their consumption. Yet in this country [Canada], we have all kinds of game laws that stipulate that they can only fish and hunt certain species at certain times of the year. The laws also say they can only take so many fish per day. Traditionally the Crees would only take what they needed for their meals for the next day, or the next two days. One man might feel four fish in one day is enough, so he will catch four fish to feed his family, but he would do this three, four times a week. Now in the case of the Crees of northern Quebec, we have been able to convince the government to agree that we would use our traditional practices. But for many First Nations in Canada, they are not allowed to do this. They have to follow the game laws. Yet they feel that as Native People they should be able to pursue the traditional activities based on traditions and what their needs are.
Land
The other issue is land. One of the big issues that faces the Crees is forestry development, where the forestry companies are given the rights to cut trees by the government of Quebec. The Crees really have very little say in the whole process. So what's happening is that under the James Bay Agreement the Crees have the right to hunt, fish, trap anywhere in Cree territory, but they lose that right when the trees and the forests are removed by forestry companies. There is no game there. There are no fish there. A lot of the environmental regulations that are to be followed by the forestry companies are not. When they do get caught, they get fined $50,000 and the forestry companies say, "Yeah okay, we'll pay the fine", and [they] just keep on doing what they're doing. At issue for the Crees is that loss of right to hunt, fish, and trap. Once the trees are gone, the game is gone, they can't do that anymore. So now we're saying, "Well okay, how do you replace that right if you lose it through development?"
Water Rights
Another issue that has surfaced for the Crees of Quebec is what we call our water rights. There are a lot of big rivers in Cree territory. And more and more the Crees say we need the water not only for our use and consumption but also to make sure that the fish survive, that the rivers survive, that the environment is protected. It's been about twenty-five years since the first hydroelectric development in our territory, and they continue to talk about more hydroelectric development, and that basically means diverting rivers and creating reservoirs. When reservoirs get created, we've learned from experience that mercury poisoning--some of it is natural mind you--does come in. And then the fish can get contaminated. At issue is who has the right to the water. We say, as Native People we do. Okay, if you own the land, do you own the water? We looked at some of the situations with respect to American Indians in the Southwest, where water is so important for agriculture. We say we should be pursuing our water rights along the same lines, if we want to have our rivers untouched and undeveloped.
Land Development
Another issue with the Crees of northern Quebec is development of their territory. Right now we are minimal players in development. We are probably the only players when it comes to the communities. But once you get outside the reserve lands, anybody can come in and open a mine, do forestry work, tourism, whatever. And we are now questioning whether our rights have been overlooked, and even set aside when it comes to the lands in Cree territory.
When you look at the Cree territory, it's divided into what we call trap-lines, which are hunting and trapping territories that are handed down family to family. Nobody knows when this started. All the elders say it has been around forever. These trap-lines covered 144,000 square miles, if I remember correctly, and there's about twelve hundred of these trap-lines. Each family goes to these trap-lines, and they live off the land, usually from October to March of every year. What has happened is that the Council's authority and jurisdiction is only over the reserve lands. But here's this traditional right that the Cree families have had over the trap-lines. So now I think when you have development on the trap-lines outside the Cree Reserves, somebody has to address the rights of those families to the family trap-lines, and what the Cree jurisdiction is to those lands.
Cultural Preservation
An issue that I think a lot of First Nations in Canada are addressing is the preservation of their language, preservation of their culture. For the Crees, the Cree leadership has noted, especially over the last ten years, the decrease of the use of the Cree language, and the decrease in the practice of Cree traditions, Cree customs, especially among the young Crees. A lot of it is influenced by television and the media in general. It's a concern because we've made tremendous efforts to have our kids learn our language. And, in fact, when a child goes to school for the first three years, everything is taught in Cree. And then after that the parents have a choice whether to send that child through English instruction or French instruction. And what has happened is that the Cree content of the curriculum decreases. The preservation of the Cree language goes hand in hand with the Cree traditions and customs, and a lot of them are based on the hunting/fishing/trapping way of life. And a lot of the kids don't get to do that because hey, they have to be at school, they can't be out on the land.
The Cree leadership was noting that so many First Nations in Canada, especially those First Nations that live near urban centers, have lost their traditional way of life and language. In fact it was reported that only ten percent of the Mohawks living just outside of Montreal speak their Mohawk language. Right now we're probably the reverse of that. I would say ninety percent of the Crees speak Cree, and ten percent do not. But fifteen years ago, a hundred percent of the Crees spoke Cree. The issue in this case is to what length will the government assist the Cree leadership in preserving their language and their culture.
The government of Quebec goes to great lengths and spends lots of money to preserve the French culture and the French language. The policy is that if somebody immigrates from Jamaica, they have to learn how to speak French. And even the Native Peoples in the province are pushed to also learn French. And that means that it will be their [the Cree] language that will disappear. In discussions with the native leadership in the province of Quebec, a lot of the Native People are concerned. You lose your language, you start losing your culture. And it's just a matter of time before a lot of people stop speaking their own language, stop pursuing their traditional activities.
A Few Words in Cree
Well, you want me to say a few words in Cree? [Diamond speaks in Cree.]
I basically talked about the loss of language, loss of Cree traditions, and the impact [that has] especially on the elders, because the elders talk about it a lot.
