Whapmagoostui Community Voices on the Future of the Marine Region

WHAPMAGOOSTUI COMMUNITY VOICES ON THE FUTURE OF THE MARINE REGION

A conversation with Whapmagoostui community members on what they value, the issues they face, and their vision for the future of the Eeyou Marine Region

Compiled by the Eeyou Marine Region Planning Commission February 2019

EEYOU MARINE REGION

The Crees of Eeyou Istchee have occupied and cared for the coastal regions identified in the Eeyou Marine Region Land Claim Agreement (EMRLCA) for millennia. The EMRLCA is a result of several decades of on and off negotiations between the Crees and Canada which began in the 1970s.

These negotiations resulted in the EMRLCA (a modern treaty) which came into effect on February 15, 2012. The EMRLCA covers approximately 61 270 square kilometers of James Bay and south eastern Hudson Bay off the coast of Quebec.

LAND USE PLANNING

Land use planning in the Eeyou Marine Region aims to protect and promote the existing and future well-being of the people of Eeyou Istchee. For this, we needed sit down with people of the coastal Cree communities including representatives of local government, youth, elders, women, tallymen and land users to hear from them:

• what is important to them about the marine area, • what issues they are facing, and • what is their vision of the future of the marine region?

These conversations will help define the goals for land use planning in the Eeyou Marine Region and are described in this report.

The Eeyou Marine Region Planning Commission will continue this conversation with Whapmagoostui through several activities in the community in the coming months and years, before a plan is tabled for consideration and approval. 82°0'0"W 80°0'0"W 78°0'0"W 76°0'0"W

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N22 THE EEYOU MARINE REGION PLANNING COMMISSION (EMRPC)

The Eeyou Marine Region Planning Commission (EMRPC)

The EMRPC is an independent body created out of the EMRLCA. The EMRPC is responsible for developing a land use plan to guide development and conservation in the Eeyou Marine Region. The EMRPC is made up of two commissioners nominated by the Grand Council of the Crees, one nominated by the government of Canada, and one nominated by the government of Nunavut. The commission also includes a chairperson selected by the other commissioners.

At the time of the consultations, the EMRPC included:

• Chairperson: Tina Petawabano • Cree Nominee: Chantal Otter Tetreault • Cree Nominee: Chris Beck • Canada Nominee: Lorne McNeice • Nunavut Nominee: David Alagalak

The EMRPC works closely with the Eeyou Planning Commission formed out of the 2012 Cree-Quebec Governance Agreement. The EPC includes Commissioners from each of the Cree communities and is chaired by the Cree Nation Government.

The EPC commissioner for Whapmagoostui is:

• Eddie Masty WHAT DO WHAPMAGOOSTUI CREES VALUE MOST ABOUT THE MARINE REGION? VALUES

EVERYTHING IS VALUABLE “Everything is valuable. If you go out there look around the bay, everything, the bay, the rivers.”

HARVESTING “I used to love canoeing with my parents every fall to go goose hunting. In the summer eggs are very valuable. We also go out fish netting.”

CONNECTING WITH OTHERS WHILE OUT ON THE LAND “There was lots of camping along the shoreline and people visited other camps along the way.”

PRISTINE UNTOUCHED AREAS “We have many areas that are valuable to us. People say it is boring with nothing to do but I do not agree with that at all. People complain that we don’t have an access road. We may not have cell service and or an access road but I want to leave it as it is. It is our home. We still treasure our Cree way of life.” WHAT ARE THE ISSUES THAT WHAPMAGOOSTUI CREES ARE FACING IN THE MARINE REGION? ISSUES

CHANGES SINCE HYDROELECTRIC DEVELOPMENTS “Satellite images from the past four decades show how the waters and ices are affected by the warmer waters coming from the La Grande complex. In 1954, satellite images show James Bay and Hudson Bay were covered in ice. From 1974 on the area now has huge open waters.”

CONCERNS ABOUT IMPACTS OF DIVERSIONS ON ANIMALS “The elders know that fish, capelin, are affected by the waters and the fresh waters that are entering the salt waters of the Belcher Islands from the waters coming out of the Chisasibi river. Loons are affected too because that is what they feed on. Other salt water fowl species are also affected from the water fresh entering the Hudson’s Bay from James Bay. By aircraft you can see how the environment and waters are affected too.”

IMPACTS TO HARVESTING “The diversions at Chisasibi and south, we are affected by it also. Ice breakage it affects us. We have shorter goose breaks. We see the water all year through. Our people know now, there is more fresh water than in the old days.”

ACCESS TO THE LAND “During goose breaks, people from the wiinibek (marine area), they now have to get transported to there and back for their stay. It’s hard to find or form an airstrip for transportation for helicopters and airplanes. It is very expensive to make airstrips.” ISSUES

CHANGES TO WILDLIFE “Caribou is decreasing. I know for a fact that there are a lot of wolves. A pack has big families. They migrate in the spring and then in the fall. They multiply extremely in numbers. I think they have a role in this caribou decrease.”

POTENTIAL CONTAMINATION FROM BARGE ACCIDENTS… “There was a barge going from Wemindji to Whapmagoostui. It sunk, there were lots of valuables that were being transported. I’m not sure if they have every marked where it happened. Just recently, people in Chisasibi witnessed lumber floating around near where they think it happened.”

AND COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE

“I’m worried about garbage flying by the wind. One old man went net fishing and killed one fish that had plastic over his body which was stuck on him. Also, the water sewage coming from the lagoon is only about 80 percent clean when it drains into the Bay.”

SHIPPING “I’m worried about ships that release waters from the foreign countries and impacts that it may have on wildlife.”

GARBAGE BEING LEFT ON THE LAND “Foreign materials, oils, metals, tanks and other items have been being left out by careless owners, for example, skidoo frames are left to rust. This should not happen.”

RELATIONSHIP WITH INUIT “The Whapmagoostui people don’t normally go further than the Long Island. But the agreement says it is a joint zone. One day we went along the coast. Half way to Long Island. We used ATVs to go there and the Inuit got mad. The Inuit confronted us when we returned.” ISSUES

JOINT MANAGEMENT OF THE MARINE AREA WITH THE INUIT “Sometimes Inuit are telling people not to hunt in some areas. The issues started with the agreements. We have to be careful. They were always trying to put notices up to say we can’t go to some areas. Another time they wanted to charge people that were just taking walks. Now we’re slowly starting to go along with each other.”

CHANGES TO CREE WAY OF LIFE “The way of life compared to the past is very different from today, with money equipment and all the things of today. Even sharing and providing others with food is very different nowadays. Before we just used to give it’s not like that anymore.”

CONFLICTS OVER LAND USE AREAS “There are complications that arise now with traplines. There is a fishing camp at Long Island. We used to share the land and going fishing together there in the summer. Nowadays they don’t let us go to their land. Even the Inuit do that to us. There are many Cree occupying the land. There is a rivalry amongst some people.”

SAFETY “There isn’t really a formal plan for outside the community. For emergencies in the marine area we would usually call our neighbors to help. There is a helicopter in the community here owned by the Inuit. We may use hunters also, that are very knowledgeable with their land, in every land direction there are hunters that know and occupied that land for so many years.”

OUTFITTING AND SPORTS FISHING “In other areas, trout used to be fished and they were big fish but overfishing might have depleted stocks, which might explain the loss of fishing spots due to over fishing by outsiders, those prime fishing areas should be protected from sport fishing.” WHAT IS THE VISION THAT WHAPMAGOOSTUI CREES HAVE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE MARINE REGION? VISION

UNTOUCHED LAND AND WATERS “Respect for our land is what we treasure the most. If you occupy the land remember to remove what you have used. Make sure to remove any garbage and the poles and the boughs.”

PROTECTION OF THE MARINE AREA “The islands need protection from those who come from outside. The non- Cree/Inuit don’t respect the lands and wildlife and affect the traditional way of hunting lifestyle as a result. I want to see protected areas especially migration and nesting areas and the places we go harvesting.”

NO CABINS “The islands, we shouldn’t let people build cabins there, they should take their tents and take them down once they leave.”

RESTRICTING DEVELOPMENT “I don’t want to see wind turbines or any no developments along the coast or on the area of the islands and I don’t want to see pipelines in any region. If there happens to be an incident there is a good possibility it will destroy the land or the fish.”

TOURISM “We are developing a tourism plan based on sustainable development along with COTA and Tourism Association. We have invested to use the shoreline.”

COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE “We’re looking into wind turbines we considered offshore but agreed the wind turbine would be located inland because with the birds along the coast and concerns that alternations would impact the birds. There is also a proposal for a biomass production development to bring biomass from Wemindji and produce energy in Whapmagoostui. For this project, we would need a larger capacity of barge. The one we have is smaller. We would need a barge with about four times bigger capacity.” VISION

RESTORE AREAS “There’s a barge that washed up at Duck Island on the north side and another one at the opening of the river. That one sank recently. There are metals and oils from them that will impact the waters. I would like to see this cleaned up.”

PRESERVING AND PASSING DOWN THE CREE WAY OF LIFE “My vision is to keep the areas untouched and pristine for future generations to use and benefit from, by practicing our traditional methods and maintaining our values as keepers of the waters and lands.”

SAFETY “I think we need a safety shelter out on the land with clear notifications to the public where they are located. There are a few located in some areas that are used as shelters for hunters. And these can be used as safety shelters as well. But they were built a long time ago and new ones should be replaced. There is one for the south shore and one for the north shore. There should be many built, not just a few; for everyone.”

STRONG INUIT-CREE RELATIONSHIPS “I want to see us sharing the land once again. The young Cree boys and the Inuit now have this agreement. It is more recent that this is happening. It is clear they have something against each other. This has to be looked at very closely. We must start having good relations. In the old days we did not do this to each other. We need to accept that the food was blessed to all of us not just one person or nation.” For more information on the Eeyou Marine Region Planning Commission please see:

https://www.eeyoumarineregion.ca/

You can contact the Eeyou Marine Region head office at:

819-895-2202

P.O. Box 580 4 Chief Isaiah Salt Road Waskaganish, Quebec, J0M 1R0