A New Relationship Between Anthropologists and the Eeyouch Part Two: Meeting the Challenge1
Kreg Ettenger2
Abstract:
For more than 30 years, applied anthropologists have worked with the Eeyou (Cree) Nation of northern Québec, Canada, as they have fought to defend their lands, resources, and way of life from the negative effects of rapid regional development. In 2002, after three decades of conflict with Québec, Eeyou leaders signed a major agreement with the province that calls for cooperation in the future development of the region’s resources. The agreement reflects the fact that employment, economic development, and community services have now become the major concern of Eeyou leaders and communities. In Part One of this article (Ettenger 2004) I described the role that anthropologists have played in the past in the region and how recent trends require changes in our approaches. Here I provide concrete suggestions for revising our research questions, methods, and products to meet the emerging needs of Eeyou communities as they develop skills and resources needed to carry out anthropological research. A current community-based anthropology project is used to demonstrate these trends.
Introduction change that has occurred in recent years in the north, and acknowledging that the communities we study The Eeyouch (formerly Cree) of Eeyou Istchee – the already accept this fact. This can be seen clearly by territory east of James Bay and southeast of Hudson examining recent developments in the region, especially Bay in northern Québec Province, Canada – have had the choices being made by Native leaders on behalf of a long relationship with applied anthropologists. Much their communities. In the case of the Eeyouch, this of this relationship has taken place in the context of includes a major new development agreement signed in prolonged conflict and tension between the Eeyouch 2002 with the province of Québec, which sets the stage and the state, namely Québec and its corporate for further resource extraction in the region while interests, whose goals are the development of the providing needed financial support for expanded local territory mainly for the benefit of the non-indigenous development. Jobs, houses, industry, and services are residents of the province. While this conflict has never the main concerns of the agreement, and while escalated to the point of violence or armed standoffs environmental protection is considered, preservation of seen in other parts of the province (such as the 1991 the “traditional way of life” so prominent in earlier Oka crisis), the relationship has been marked by agreements is not a highlight. animosity, public criticisms, and a long series of legal and political battles. Anthropologists, especially those As the Eeyouch and other indigenous peoples move from the anglophone academic community, have into the 21st century, so must we. This article describes generally taken the side of the Eeyouch in these some fundamental aspects of our discipline that need disputes, acting as advisors, interlocutors, and expert to be reexamined as we make this transition. These witnesses in courts and negotiations, and elucidating include the problems we study as well as the way we the Eeyou positions in academic publications and work with communities and what they gain from the conferences. They have also, for better or worse, experience. Collaboration, participation, local control, helped to maintain the general perception that the and training are all critical elements of this “new Eeyouch continue to live a more-or-less traditional relationship” between applied anthropologists and the lifestyle based on hunting and trapping, despite the Eeyouch. As I show, such an approach is currently various changes that have come to the region. being used in an archaeology and cultural heritage research project being undertaken at the site of a new In Part One of this article (Ettenger 2004) I hydroelectric project on the Eastmain River. challenged this perception and suggested that if anthropologists are to continue to have a meaningful The Modern Eeyouch: A Brief Overview role in Eeyou Istchee, major changes in our methods and our perspectives will be needed. This includes Currently there are about 13,000 Eeyouch (the plural jettisoning old views about the nature of hunting of Eeyou) living in 9 communities in northern Québec society, recognizing the profound extent of cultural (Figure 1), and another 1,000 or so living outside the
High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 1 region but retaining legal band membership and other governments and public corporations like Hydro- local affiliations. Like many other northern Native Québec. The first of these was the 1975 James Bay and communities, the Eeyouch are undergoing rapid social Northern Québec Agreement (Secrétariat aux affaires and economic change, primarily as a result of large- autochtones 1998), which set the stage both for the scale resource development (forestry, mining, and development of the region’s resources and for the hydroelectric development) on their traditional creation of local and regional Cree administrative territory, now known as Eeyou Istchee (The People’s structures (Salisbury 1986, Niezen 1998). These include Land). Unlike some indigenous groups, however, the Cree-run schools, health clinics and other services, as Eeyouch have substantial financial resources available well as village-level band offices, and regional entities to help them make this transition, largely due to a series such as the Cree Regional Authority. of negotiated settlements with provincial and federal
Figure 1. Eeyouch Communities in northern Québec.
2 High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 A more recent agreement between the Eeyouch and In terms of needs, the 9 villages of Eeyou Istchee are Québec (but not Canada) provides additional funding remote, rapidly-growing communities with limited for local and regional economic development, economic development, a dependence on external improvement of services, and other needs identified funding, shortages of residential and commercial space, but not fully met through earlier funding arrangements and young populations who need good jobs but want (Anon. 2002a). Often called the “New Relationship to remain in or near their home communities. There are Agreement” (and dubbed the Paix des Braves by also needs for improvement in education, health care, Canadian media), this compact represents both new social services, and a host of other areas. In short, challenges and new opportunities for the Eeyouch and there is ample opportunity for those who wish to their leadership. For example, it allows the creation of contribut e their social science skills, experience, and additional hydroelectric projects on two major rivers, training. How do we make a difference, and how do we which some Eeyouch reject, but provides guaranteed convince local and regional leaders that we have income from these projects, something Eeyouch something worthwhile to contribute? The rest of this leaders have long called for. Other provisions give the article addresses this fundamental question. Eeyouch stronger control over logging and mining activities, set goals for Native employment in various The Anthropologist’s Changing Role: A Personal resource sectors, and provide needed job training. Experience Increased funding for housing and other community infrastructure, as well as new allotments for My thinking is based in part on experience as a part- development of tourism and other emerging economic time research consultant to the Eeyou government over sectors, are seen as important benefits of the the decade from 1994-2004. My work involved agreement. Altogether the New Relationship documenting local knowledge regarding land and Agreement provides the Eeyouch with roughly Can$ 4- resources for specific legal and political purposes. In 5 billion over the next 50 years to fund immediate and chronological order, the studies include: a community long-term needs in the communities. consultation for the Great Whale Hydroelectric Project (Scott and Ettenger 1994); an evaluation of remedial Eeyou villages already share many characteristics programs related to fishery contamination (Ettenger with non-Native communities of similar size in the 1998); a study to document local use and knowledge of north. They consist of modern houses neatly set along a potential cultural heritage site (Ettenger 2002); a land gravel or asphalt roads in communities designed by use and occupancy study for the Eeyou marine claim engineers and land-use planners. The homes are heated (Ettenger 2003); and a cultural heritage program related by furnaces and connected to municipal water and to a new hydroelectric project (Denton, Ettenger, and sewage systems and local or regional electric grids. Moses 2003). In addition to these contracted projects, Spacious band administration offices, sports I spent roughly 8 months between September of 1994 complexes, and commercial centers with small shops and June of 1995 in one Eeyou community conducting and restaurants are the norm. Near-daily air flights doctoral dissertation research on hunters’ responses to provide rapid transportation of people and goods, and environmental and economic change. In total, I have all but one community is connected by roads to the spent roughly 20 months in Eeyou Istchee over the south. Entertainment and recreation opportunities are past 10 years and conducted some 150 formal ample; many larger communities would love to have the interviews with elders, hunters, and other local sports facilities, for example, of Eastmain (pop. 550) residents. I have also had countless conversations with its indoor ice rink and sports complex. In short, the with Eeyou residents, leaders, advisors, and Eeyou communities have made a great leap forward in administrators both in their communities and in offices terms of material infrastructure, in large part due to the in Montreal and Ottawa over this period. economic benefits of regional development and the ability of Eeyou leaders to gain facilities and services Each successive project involved one or more of the for their residents. On the other hand, the Eeyou face following: 1) an advancement in technology or social, physical, economic and other problems related methods; 2) greater involvement of community to rapid development (Niezen 1998; Hornig 1999). There residents; and 3) more direct and clear benefits to the are many serious problems to solve as the communities community from the research. The Great Whale Project seek to balance economic development with the desire “Cree Community Consultation,” for example, involved to retain key elements of their cultural heritage and me and senior researcher Dr. Colin Scott of McGill social fabric. University (and another team elsewhere) interviewing residents of two communities about the social and
High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 3 environmental impacts of the first phase of the James wishes of the Eeyouch (Ettenger 2002). The mountain Bay Hydroelectric Project (Scott and Ettenger 1994). played an important historical role in the region, T he work was carried out on behalf of the Grand providing moose, caribou, black bear, and other game Council of the Crees, and our report was submitted to to Native residents during times of famine in the early them and then to the project’s funding agent, Hydro- 20th century. To some the mountain holds magical or Québec. There was no local oversight of the work, spiritual properties; to others it is an important cultural although it was administered through the Grand symbol and a prime example of Eeyou game Council who had final authority to approve the report conservation practices. It was also identified in the prior to submission to Hydro-Québec. The method was New Relationship Agreement as a potential cultural simply conducting semi-structured int erviews using and ecological heritage site, and an area the Eeyouch topographic maps as prompts, then transcribing the specifically wanted protected from further tapes and organizing the transcripts into a sort of development. I conducted interviews with encyclopedia of residents’ comments. While by Waskaganish elders about the mountain’s ecology, contract we could not do additional interpretations of history, and past use; this information was used to the data, it was clear that we (and especially Dr. Scott) create reports, maps, and posters designed to promote were perceived as the experts and made virtually all the Eeyou arguments and convince the province to decisions regarding whom to interview and what topics make the area off-limits to further logging. to explore. As with the offshore research there was strong local Two smaller projects, one involving local knowledge involvement, and ultimately the Eeyouch prevailed. of eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds in James Bay Muskuuchii (and several other sites) was proposed as (Ettenger 1995), and another evaluating community a provincial “biodiversity reserve,” with protection fishing programs (Ettenger 1998) expanded my from further commercial logging (Environement Québec methodology, the first by employing mapping 2003a, b). The next step of this process involved an techniques, and the second by including field study of impact assessment, which the community of harvesting sites. I used both in the next major project Waskaganish carried out on its own behalf, using the I was involved with, a land use and occupancy study materials I had collected (including map data and in support of the Eeyou claim to offshore islands and interviews) to supplement their own work. This waters of James and Hudson Bays (Ettenger 2003). In demonstrates admirably the gradual devolution of such this project the methodology included detailed research to the local level. Still, there was room for mapping of islands and adjacent coastlines, improvement in terms of direct benefits to the incorporating local knowledge of toponyms, community, such as additional training or the creation ethnoecology, camp sites, travel routes, and so on. of educational products. The most recent project I have Eventually LandSat 7 images were used in place of topo been involved with in Eeyou Istchee, the Nadoshtin maps, and GIS was used to organize the data and create ACHP, addresses these concerns and represents a various maps which were verified and added to in later useful model for future research on cult ural heritage, interviews. Communities played a considerable role in traditional knowledge, and related topics. this process, including organizing local consultation meetings where users of the coast and offshore could The Nadoshtin ACHP inspect maps, ask questions, and add information based on their own experience and knowledge. Still, the The Nadoshtin Agreement (Anon. 2002b), designed research itself was largely driven by myself as an to minimize the negative impacts and maximize local outside consultant working within constraints set by benefits from the EM-1 hydroelectric project, also the legal process and prior research on land claims in created an “Archaeology and Cultural Heritage the north. In terms of community benefits, while there Program” (ACHP) to document Eeyou knowledge of has been considerable discussion of creating materials the EM-1 site, about 50 miles upstream from the (such as an interactive CD) that would make the data existing Eastmain-Opinaca Reservoir (Figure 2). The collected available to local residents, this has not yet goal was to collect and preserve the Eeyou cultural been done. heritage of the river and surrounding area, including both archaeological and ethnographic materials. The In 2002 I was asked to apply a similar methodology project was devised by the Eeyou negotiators of the to a study of Muskuuchii (Bear Mountain), a glacially- Nadoshtin Agreement in response to concerns about formed plateau southeast of James Bay that was how earlier archaeological studies in the project area undergoing rapid commercial deforestation against the and at other sites had been done (Anon. 2002b: 89-90).
4 High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 It requires that local knowledge play a major role in the from a methodological point of view and a powerful design, implementation, and ultimate products of the statement of inherent Eeyou rights over the production research, and that local residents take part in all and distribution of knowledge about their lands, culture aspects of the project. The program is both progressive and history.
Figure 2. The ACHP and Muskuuchii study areas.
High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 5 There are three components of the ACHP: an The information collected is being organized using archaeological program to complement Hydro- GIS (geographic information system) technology to link Québec’s; the documentation of “traditional Cree ethnographic materials and archaeological information knowledge and values” pertaining to the project area; digitally to maps and other images of the affected area. and information on Eeyou burial sites, as well as a plan This will foster the development of education products to commemorate and possibly relocate identified sites designed to pass along the heritage of the land flooded (Denton, Ettenger, and Moses 2003). by the EM-1 Project to future generations of Eeyouch. Almost a third of the budget and two to three years of Archaeological investigations are designed to work following the flooding are devoted to creating complement those carried out by the project books, videos, multimedia products, and other proponents (Hydro-Québec and SEBJ), which maintain materials that can be used in schools, museums, and control over the majority of funding in this area. homes to learn about the ACHP and its findings. Documentation of traditional knowledge involves the Project staff are working with the Advisory Committee use of digital media to record stories and ecological and others to determine what are the most effective and historical information about the river and ways of transmitting this knowledge to various surrounding area, including such things as campsites audiences, including children and youth. The digital and harvesting locations. The burial site program is approach to documentation for the projects lends itself designed to help mitigate one of the major cultural to a variety of potential products, including interactive impacts of reservoir flooding, as identified in earlier DVDs and websites that combine maps and photos projects: the inundation of Eeyou graves. Known grave with video, audio, and text. sites will be identified and protected from disturbance where possible, while unintentionally uncovered Another priority of the ACHP is to develop human remains will be relocated to a community or employment opportunities for local residents, which is other site for reburial. one of the major goals of the Nadoshtin Agreement in general. A major goal of the ACHP is to train local The overarching goal of the ACHP is to compose a residents in the various tools and techniques of picture of the affected area based on local knowledge, cultural heritage research, including archaeological integrate that with the prehistoric findings from various surveys and excavations, ethnographic interviewing, sites, and create products that transmit that knowledge mapping, and visual anthropology methods. Local to others, including future generations of Eeyouch. The researchers are operating cameras and other recording ACHP also calls for a different approach to equipment, conducting interviews, and recording anthropological research than has been the norm in the information provided by local elders. By the end of the region, at least outside of projects run directly by CRA p roject, a dozen or more individuals will have gone staff (see Denton 2001 for a positive example). For one through a series of training modules developed for the thing, there is a clear emphasis on recording local ACHP. For example, a group of young Eeyouch from knowledge in a way that ensures it will be accessible to the four participating communities engaged in a future generations of Eeyouch, as well as to traditional canoe journey down part of the Eastmain contemporary audiences. This means using technology River in August 2003, followed by nearly two months that allows the creation of various educational in field camps conducting archaeological survey work products, from books or magazines to video, audio and and research with elders. They received training in multimedia applications. Text alone is not adequate to archaeological and ethnographic research methods, as record and transmit knowledge to an audience of well as in the use of digital media equipment. In March varying degrees of literacy (in Cree or English) and 2004 a group of residents completed a snowshoe education, or from different cultures. Photographs, journey on the Eastmain River, and in the summer and video clips, audio recordings of stories, maps, exhibits, fall additional local workers participated in and other types of non-written material are seen as archaeological excavations, directed in part by the essential to providing an outlet for the wealth of previously trained project staff. The long-range goal of information to be collected. The project is therefore such activities is to provide local residents with the employing digital media devices, including mini-DV skills and equipment to be able to conduct future camcorders, minidisk recorders, digital still cameras, research, either independently or with outside and GPS (global positioning system) units to record the assistance. In this way the communities will gain more knowledge of elders and others about the EM-1 area. control over the type of cultural research that is done, how it is carried out, and the way that the information and stories collected are presented.
6 High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 A third way in which the ACHP stands out is its Future Anthropological Research in Indigenous emphasis on site-based activities that involve both Communities youth and elders. This focus comes directly from the project’s advisory committee, which wanted to use the The ACHP helps define one possible role that project to get more youth out on the land. Reasons applied anthropologists can play within the context of include their awareness of a general dislocation from an increasingly sophisticated and empowered the land on the part of Eeyou youth, and their belief indigenous society like the Eeyou Nation. that real transmission of traditional knowledge can only Anthropologists may become more like trainers and take place in situ. They believe that direct oral developers of local capacity for social research, and transmission of knowledge and stories is more valuable less like researchers who collect data and produce than books or classroom lectures, an attitude that reports as acknowledged experts on a particular topic prevails among many Eeyouch today. Of course, we or society. This has been the evolution of my own work may be able to have the best of both worlds, creating in Eeyou Istchee over the past decade, and I believe opportunities for direct teaching of traditional skills such a shift in thinking and practice is generalizable and knowledge in the bush while also recording this within our field. Community reluctance to permit access process for the benefit of those Eeyouch who cannot to those they see as one-sided collectors of be there. Elders are becoming more comfortable with information may eventually force this change anyway; cameras and microphones, and the researchers are now is the time to pro-actively adapt our roles to the learning how to ask questions and record activities in changing needs of those we work with. The following a way that will provide useful material for educational discussion outlines some other ways in which we can products. maintain and improve our relevance to the changing needs of developing Native societies. One clear goal of the ACHP was to achieve community goals regarding training and employment Relevance of Research without sacrificing the quality of research carried out. In this respect it has already proven a success: field As indigenous governments and communities surveys done by local teams led by elders in the fall of increasingly gain access to information about 2003 found more potential archaeological sites and themselves (through the internet, via repatriation of artifacts than better-equipped and better-funded intellectual property, or other means), as they procure Hydro-Québec teams working in the same area. Work the tools and skills needed for anthropological on the land also showed the depth of information about research, and as the needs for “expert” anthropological the land and its history held by local elders. In a evidence decline (for example, due to resolution of practical sense, therefore, the ACHP offers a valuable outstanding land claims), the need for outside model for community-based archaeological and cultural researchers will diminish. Internal social science heritage research. In a larger sense, the program research institutes and departments could (and should) represents how Native communities are reclaiming the eventually displace to a large degree the academic and right to control access to their cultural heritage, from independent research consultants who now conduct collection of data to preservation of artifacts and much of the research in Native communities. Our creation of communication products. The Nadoshtin reaction should be not to block this trend, but to work Agreement ensures that Eeyou communities, in to help build the local and regional capacity of particular elders, maintain control over the methods indigenous peoples to design, carry out, and and products of research. The ACHP guidelines are not disseminate anthropological research. Discussions of just a response to development projects, they are also future prospects for anthropologists in Native a rejection of traditional anthropological and communities, therefore, should emphasize our roles as archaeological research methods. This comes at a time potential trainers, capacity-builders, and promoters of when Eeyouch are developing a major cultural research local research efforts. To the extent that we still carry and education institute in the community of Oujé- out funded research and use the findings for our own Bougoumou, and new guidelines for the control of purposes, this should be done with an eye toward intellectual property. There is clearly a movement creating something that the communities also find toward greater control over the goals, methods and relevant, whether educational materials for their own outcome of research conducted in Eeyou Istchee, use or the employment and training of local residents which will no doubt affect all researchers involved in in meaningful capacities. It should also be done in true the region. collaboration with regional and local governments and researchers.
High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 7 Local Involvement and Benefits museums and cultural centers to radio or video programming and website development. Greater local control over anthropological research is a necessary and desirable outcome of increasing A third benefit desired by communities is the aboriginal self-government. As the Eeyouch and other generation of products that can be used in schools and Native peoples continue their paths toward autonomy, elsewhere to deal with issues such as language change and as they assume greater control over both resource and loss of traditional knowledge. No longer is it management and research agendas, outsiders will considered sufficient for researchers to produce eventually be marginalized and perhaps unneeded. academic articles or dissertations that never find their Currently the Eeyouch are in the process of planning way back to the communities, or limit their writing to and raising funds for an impressive cultural center consulting reports to which only a few officials have called Aanischaaukamikw, to be located in the access. Summary reports or other documents that can southern inland community of Oujé-Bougoumou. The be readily obtained by local residents and that are center will house archaeological and ethnographic written in a style (and language) appropriate for local materials and exhibits and provide funding and space audiences are increasingly desired, if not yet expected, for cultural and performing arts. There is also interest as an outcome of research projects. Oral presentations in carrying out research to document cultural heritage, that provide opportunities for communities to respond traditional knowledge, and related topics. Some Eeyou to findings are also appreciated. As anthropologists communities are already engaged in such efforts, while embrace the tools of digital media, we should also others are developing the tools and skills needed to do provide copies of audio and video recordings, at least so. The ACHP is an example of how Eeyou leaders are to those interviewed, and perhaps summary programs responding to such demands by requiring local for local broadcast or distribution. There is also the training, employment and capacity-building in new internet; many communities now have their own web research projects. Data collection is done by local pages, and most residents can access the web either at researchers in their own language, leading to excellent home or in schools or band offices. results that are more likely to be of interest to other community members. The idea of communities owning Major Topics of Research research in all its dimensions, from its planning to the eventual products, is a key goal. The topics we study should clearly reflect local concerns and priorities, not just our own esoteric Many anthropologists tend to focus on the interests or subjects that may be relevant from an analytical side of their research, assuming that the academic or legal perspective but have little direct value they add to community problems is their bearing on community life. Full-time hunters currently extensive theoretical and comparative base of make up just a fifth of the residents of Eeyou Istchee, for knowledge and their ability to understand and interpret example, yet probably account for four-fifths of the local phenomena based on this experience. I think most literature about Eeyou society. While the continued role communities would disagree, at least for the type of of hunting within the Eeyou communities is a valid area work they are most interested in today, which includes of research, given its importance to both food security documenting their cultural heritage and traditional and cultural identity, other topics may be even more knowledge and developing educational materials to critical from a local perspective. Among the concerns pass this knowledge on to youth and future identified by Eeyou leaders and addressed in the New generations. Such work can be done by local Relationship Agreement and other recent policy researchers once they have the tools and skills needed decisions, for example, are the need for increased jobs in to do so. Even more advanced methods, such as the both the resource and service sectors; the difficulty of use of GIS or remote sensing products, can be done at creating sustained local economic development; the the local level by those with training in these areas. A challenges of language and education in an increasingly priority for applied anthropology, therefore, should be francophone and industrialized region; the struggle to putting the tools of our trade into the hands of local maintain cultural identity in a globalized and media- researchers, helping them develop the skills to use influenced sett ing; chronic problems with drug and them effectively, and promoting our field as a viable alcohol abuse, and with depression and other mental and engaging career choice for local residents. We can health problems; and rapidly growing rates of diabetes, also help create the demand for such workers by heart disease, and other health conditions related to assisting communities in seeking funding for local changes in diet and lifestyle. In terms of land use, many heritage programs and institutions, ranging from topics transcend traditional ethnographic studies of
8 High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 Eeyou hunting culture and could produce results more during earlier studies felt there was “lots of unshared relevant to the modern Eeyou hunter: the use of road information” about places lost to earlier development corridors for hunting; changes with respect to the (Scott and Ettenger 1994). New agreements like ownership and division of family traplines; and recent Nadoshtin and Boumhounan address this problem trends with respect to fishing, to name but a few. An directly and provide opportunities for documenting emerging topic of economic interest to the Eeyouch is cultural heritage in areas affected by new development. tourism and outfitting, and research to support this interest could be fruitful. These are just a few areas to The changes that have resulted from development which anthropologists can devote their attention in the of Eeyou Istchee mean that, inevitably, some of what coming years. tied former generations of Eeyouch to the land will be lost. Evidence from projects I have worked on suggests Documenting elders’ knowledge about the land is that a sizable amount of traditional place-based also a focus of attention. A planned cultural center knowledge is already gone in Eeyou Istchee. During called Aanischaaukamikw, or “A Place for Passing on the ACHP, for example, we were unable to document Culture,” reflects strong regional concerns about place names for many features in the EM-1 project area, documenting Eeyou traditions (aanischaaihtuun) and although elders stressed that there were in fact Eeyou language (ayiimuun) and passing them on to future names for these places at one time. Other missing generations. Knowledge of the land and its use information includes campsites inhabited in the pre- continues to be an important topic in Eeyou Istchee, modern era, travel routes used before the age of although the social and economic role of this skidoos and outboard motors, some harvesting areas, knowledge may be changing. As indigenous and even myths and legends of the landscape. All of governments continue to gain control over their own these were identified by interviewees as indigenous lands and resources, the systematic documentation of knowledge that previous generations, including their local knowledge and its integration into development own parents, possessed. This was even said by activities will become a fundamental part of the hunters in their 70s and 80s, who themselves know the planning process. This can be seen today with respect land much better than their children and grandchildren. to the proposed EM-1A/Rupert River hydroelectric project, where local knowledge of Eeyou hunters was Many elders have an understanding of the land incorporated into project design and management. As formed through direct experience, rather than stories or this is a key priority area for Eeyou communities and other indirect means. This cannot be said of most leaders, I will expand on the need to make documenting younger Eeyouch, who tend to measure their annual local knowledge of the environment and land use a key time spent in the bush in days, not months. Most of the area of future anthropological research. time they are working or going to school in the community, where their experiences of nature are Land-Based Knowledge: A Key Area of Research framed within the physical boundaries of the village. Radical changes in the way hunt ing groups are The ACHP’s emphasis on recording traditional organized, where they go, and how they hunt are also knowledge for posterity highlights one of the most affecting transmission of traditional knowledge about pressing problems facing researchers in Eeyou Istchee the land. The most profound and irreversible loss of and other rapidly changing regions: the loss of local knowledge, however, comes when an area is traditional knowledge ranging from place names and completely destroyed, such as when a reservoir is stories to ecological data. This is true whether the area created. As one elder said during the Great Whale in question is about to undergo major change, such as Community Consultation when speaking about an area the creation of a reservoir, or is being used less or inundated by the Eastmain-Opinaca Reservoir, “it is as differently by community members. Documenting the if my memory of it has been wiped clean.” While total stories, memories, knowledge, and feelings of those eradication of places is the extreme in Eeyou Istchee, who used these places is a vital part of creating a the gradual loss of knowledge as places are altered, permanent cultural record of the cultural landscape. such as by roads and forestry, has been recognized by Responding to the loss of land and culture was a Eeyou leaders and elders alike (for example, see the priority for those who negotiated recent development guidelines for research in CEEC 1996). Competition with agreements affecting Eeyou Istchee. Projects funded other users and other uses changes the land and the by these agreements allow the Eeyouch to implement way it is perceived and used by Eeyouch, and these their own strategies for recording cultural heritage changes are reflected in losses in the transmission of otherwise lost to development. Residents interviewed local knowledge.
High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 9 Some would argue that the Eeyouch continue to be Hall, and Rosenberg 2000; Harrison 2001; Oakes et al. active users of their territory and are still a vital hunting 2003) show that collaborative models are possible, and society, building upon and modifying their corpus of that greater local control over research can offer new indigenous knowledge even as they react to changes insights, economic benefits to communities, and in technology or their physical environment. While protection of indigenous values. Some local Eeyouch there is some truth to this line of reasoning, in the end are already skilled researchers capable of producing I think its misses the mark. Enormous amounts of place- academic-level publications and reports on historical, specific knowledge are going to be lost, and have legal, and environmental issues (cf., Pachano 2000). already been lost, because of the disuse of certain Stronger control over and involvement in places, their use in new ways, or their use by people anthropological research also supports the goals of who rely on advanced technology rather than detailed self-determination and autonomy through enhanced ecological knowledge in their hunting strategies. This local capacity and ownership of indigenous knowledge. all leads me to one conclusion: if there is to be Research must be based on the true needs of preservation of more than a small fraction of what communities, and not just reflect preexisting models living Eeyouch still know about the land, the process of and research interests of established researchers. transmission and documentation cannot be limited to participation in traditional harvesting activities by In this shift of power, the trend toward community- family groups, or even to cultural activities created by driven knowledge production means that communities to replace defunct traditions (such as the anthropologists may lose some of the status that has historic fur trade “canoe brigades” on the Rupert River, heretofore increased their value to indigenous which are now done as a form of cultural recreation). communities, such as when testifying as expert Instead, there must be a concerted effort to document witnesses in land-claim cases. According to Dyck and the traditional ecological knowledge and oral history of Waldram, this could result in challenges to our “claims the remaining living elders who have direct experience of exclusive possession of specialized professional of the land. This process must be led by the Eeyou expertise and knowledge [and] the abandoning of a communities themselves, with the support of applied professional posture designed first and foremost to anthropologists and others willing to train, advise, and enhance the prominence, rewards, and protective encourage local researchers. distancing of a discipline from those it studies” (1993: 15). The price of a true working relationship with the Conclusion communities we study, including respecting their need for capacity-building and agenda-setting, may be a The Eeyouch of northern Québec, like many diminished role for ourselves in the arena of public indigenous peoples, face many complex challenges policy as we lose our status as exclusive brokers of which applied anthropologists could help address. Our local knowledge. I would argue, however, that we are future relevance, however, will be determined in large already at risk of becoming marginalized, as Native part by our ability and willingness to adjust our leaders and communities move forward with ambitious methods, goals and theories to match the needs of agendas regarding their own development while many rapidly changing Eeyou communities. Local people are of our research methods and interests remain rooted in obtaining advanced research and communication tools, the past. Only by adapting to the changing landscape and are increasingly demanding and assuming control of research needs in indigenous communities can we over research agendas and processes. They are also continue to contribute to their development and well- becoming trained in methods ranging from audio and being. video production to mapping and ethnography. As Dyck and Waldram note, “The more that Notes anthropologists strive to make both the processes and products of their research open to scrutiny and 1. This article is the second of a two-part series which involvement by aboriginal peoples, the greater the was begun in the Spring 2004 issue of the High Plains possibility that particular anthropological research Applied Anthropologist. Part I was entitled, “A “New tasks . . . may be gradually repatriated by Native Relationship” Between Anthropologists and the Crees researchers” (1993: 15). The role of outside consultants of Québec, Part One: The Challenge.” may eventually be limited to supporting local efforts, rather than carrying out research independently or 2. Kreg Ettenger is an independent research consultant acting as expert analysts. Recent experiences who works on environmental, land-use, and cultural (McDonald, Arragutainaq, and Novalinga 1997; Dei, heritage issues. He can be contacted at the Department
10 High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 of Geography-Anthropology, 300 Bailey Hall, Environnement Quebec University of Southern Maine, Gorham, ME 04038. 207- 2003a Muskuuchii Hills Biodiversity Reserve: In a 780-5322. [email protected]. The author wishes Nutshell. Quebec: Ministère de to thank the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou l’Environnement. www.menv.gouv.qc.ca/ Istchee) and the Cree Regional Authority for their past biodiversite/reserves-bio/muskuchii/note- support. en.pdf.
References 2003b Muskuuchii Hills Biodiversity Reserve: Conservation Plan. Quebec Strategy for Anonymous Protected Areas. Quebec: Ministère de 2002a Agreement Concerning a New Relationship l’Environnement. www.menv.gouv.qc.ca/ Between le Gouvernement du Québec and the biodiversite/reserves-bio/muskuchii Eeyouch of Québec. Available as pdf file on the /Psc_Muskuchii-en.pdf. Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) website at http://gcc.ca. Ettenger, Kreg 1995 Wemindji Cree Knowledge of Eelgrass 2002b Nadoshtin Agreement (Entente Distribution and Ecology. Report submitted Nadoshtin/Nadoshtin Niskamon). to the Cree Regional Authority, Montreal, 42 Agreement By and Between the Grand pp. Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), the Cree Regional Authority, the Eastmain Band, 1998 Community Assessment of Mercury The Cree Nation of Mistissini, the Nemaska Remedial Programs in Chisasibi, Wemindji, Band, the Waskaganish Band, Hydro- and Eastmain. Report prepared for the Cree Québec, and the Société de l’Énergie de la Regional Authority, Montreal. Baie James. 2002 Muskuuchii [Bear Mountain]: Protecting CEEC a Traditional Iyiyuuch Wildlife Preserve 1996 Self-Determination: The Voice of a Nation and Sacred Site. Based on the Oral History, and People on Eeyou and Eeyou Estchee. Knowledge and Values of the Waskaganish Eeyou (Cree) Nation and People of Eeyou Cree First Nation. December, 2002. Estchee (of Quebec). Final Report. Cree Montreal/Ottawa/Nemaska: Grand Council Eeyou Estchee Commission. of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee). www.gcc.ca /cra/environment/Muskuuchii_LAST.pdf. Dei, George J.S., Budd L. Hall, and Dorothy Goldin Rosenberg, eds. 2003 Cree Knowledge, Use and Management of 2000 Indigenous Knowledges in Global Natural Resources in the Offshore Regions Contexts: Multiple Readings of Our World. of James Bay and S.E. Hudson Bay: Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Regional Synthesis Report. Montreal and Nemaska: Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Denton, David Istchee)/Cree Regional Authority. 2001 A Visit in Time: Ancient Places, Archaeology and Stories from the Elders of 2004 A “New Relationship” Between Wemindji. Nemaska, Quebec: Cree Regional Anthropologists and the Eeyouch of Authority. Quebec. Part One: The Challenge. High Plains Applied Anthropologist 24(1): 77-92. Denton, David, Kreg Ettenger, and Donovan Moses 2003 The Nadoshtin Archaeology and Cultural Harrison, Barbara Heritage Program. Eeyou Eenou Nation: The 2001 Collaborative Programs in Indigenous Voice of the People Spring 2003:20-30. Communities: From Fieldwork to Practice. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press. Dyck, Noel, and James Waldram, eds. 1993 Anthropology, Public Policy and Native Peoples in Canada. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
High Plains Applied Anthropologist No. 1, Vol. 25, Spring, 2005 11 Hornig, James F., ed. Pachano, Janie 1999 Social and Environmental Impacts of the 2000 Eeyouch’ Use of Islands off the Coasts of James Bay Hydroelectric Project. Montreal James & Hudson Bays, 1750-2000. & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Background report prepared for the Press. GCC(EI)/CRA, December 8, 2000.
M cDonald, Miriam, Lucassie Arragutainaq, and Zack Salisbury, Richard Novalinga 1986 A Homeland for the Cree: Regional 1997 Voices from the Bay: Traditional Development in James Bay, 1971-81. Ecological Knowledge of Inuit and Cree in Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. the Hudson Bay Bioregion. Ottawa & Sanikiluaq: Canadian Arctic Resources Scott, Colin, and Kreg Ettenger Committee and the Environmental Committee 1994 Great Whale Environmental Assessment of the Municipality of Sanikiluaq. Community Consultation: Final Report for Wemindji and Eastmain. Parts A and B. Niezen, Ronald Montreal: Grand Council of the Crees (of 1998 Defending the Land: Sovereignty and Quebec)/Cree Regional Authority. Forest Life in James Bay Cree Society. Needham Heights, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon. Secrétariat aux affaires autochtones 1998 James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement Oakes, Jill, et al. and Complementary Agreements (1998 2003 Native Voices In Research. Winnipeg, Edition). Saint-Foy: Les Publications du Manitoba: Aboriginal Issues Press. Québec. www.ualberta.ca /~esimpson/claims/jamesbay.htm
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