SUMMARY OF TRAPLINE LAND USE BEFORE THE LA GRANDE PROJECT

TRAPLINE CH33 (VC1) Land Use Before the La Grande Complex

Trapline Background Information

The trapline VC1 is located on the south shore of the La Grande Rivière and bordered at its western part by the . The trapline encompasses the community of and is mostly located in Categories I Land except from the Chisasibi Road corridor and some islands on the coast shores that are on Category II Land. Trapline VC1 is located on the southern shore of and stretches for about 55 km from the James Bay to the inland, and for about 15 to 20 km wide. It is transected by the Chisasibi road (40 km) as well as by the La Grande 1-Chisasibi, La Grande 1-Radisson Substation, and La Grande 1-Wemindji power lines.

John E. Sam has been the tallyman since 1997. His uncle, Ernest Sam, and his father, Norman Sam, were the two previous tallymen.

Impacts Related to the La Grande Complex

• La Grande-1 generating station, dam and spillway • La Grande-1 reservoir (1,1% (8,9km2) of the total trapline land and natural water plans superficies was flooded) • Robert-Bourassa generating station (La Grande-2) • Road to La Grande-1 and Chisasibi • Flow increase in La Grande river • Transmission line from La Grande-1 generating station to Chisasibi • Transmission line from La Grande-1 to Radisson substation • Transmission line from La Grande-1 generating station to Wemindji

Trapline Land Use Before the La Grande Complex

The community of Fort George lied inside VC1 trapline boundaries, therefore, the access to the territory wasn’t an issue for the tallyman and the other trappers. La Grande River and the James Bay were the natural boundaries of the trapline and also constituted important navigation ways on a west-east and north-south directions respectively. The paddle canoe and the motor boat were the crafts used along these routes, the latter being more suitable for the route on the bay. After freeze-up, the common means of transportation used to move around were the dog team, walking on snowshoes and the snowmobile, introduced in the 1970’s. The main winter trails opened in the territory joined Fort George to the coastal area where most of the camps were settled and to the easternmost area of the trapline, principally exploited during the winter. The trappers were constantly on the move and after one year they covered the whole trapline. The tallyman never took the plane to get there, neither did the plane come to pick up the furs. It was the tallyman who had to go back to the community whenever he had enough furs

1 to sell to the Hudson Bay Co.

In the 1970’s, before the inhabitants of Fort George moved from the island to the main land, in Chisasibi, the hunting strategies used by the tallyman in office, Norman Sam, didn’t differ from other trappers. The trapline was basically divided into two main areas corresponding to the different resource exploitation seasons. During the summer, fishing was the main activity carried out on the trapline, not only by the tallyman and his family but also by other community members. The first rapid (upitchiwun) on La Grande river, about 30 km upstream from Fort George, was a place of intense and localised fishing activity. According to Eddie Sam, there was a small bay of about 20 feet long by 15 feet wide amid the rock of the riverbed where people took turns to put their nets. It didn’t take long before the nets where removed because fish, mainly whitefish and cisco, was plentiful. Some of the fishermen settled a temporary camp near the rapids where they dried the fish while most of them paddled down La Grande River back to Fort George in the same day. Also, during the summer and before the dams were built, the community members used to put their nets all along La Grande River. Another intense fishing location was the strait between Black Island and the main land, on the James Bay. In that specific area, the nets were settled really close one to another. Elsewhere, all along the James Bay coast, the tallyman himself and other from Fort George, also used to put their nets and get trout, whitefish and cisco.

From the end of August or early September, until October, the James Bay coast was an intense activity area for the tallyman and other hunters, mainly for goose hunting. Three campsites in the area consisting of teepees (mitchwap) were used during the fall (#2, 6, and 13). Tees Bay and Aquatuc Bay were the main geese feeding grounds and the place where they gathered before migrating to the south. In those bays, people from Fort George used to have goose ponds and put their decoys. The geese were also abundant on the James Bay islands where they ate berries. During the fall, the islands in the bay and the coastal area not only offered geese as a harvesting resource, but Norman Sam also trapped fox and hunted small game. As the fall season advanced, the harvesting activities were displaced inland, away from the James Bay coast. In October, Norman Sam and the other trappers left Fort George and paddled up La Grande River. On their way, they stopped at their camps (#18, 22, 25) along the river to fish and hunt small game. The tallyman could decide to stay in this area and wait at the mihtukuan (#24) for the freeze-up and start his trapping season, or paddle forward upstream beyond the first rapid until camps #27 and #28. The canoe route continued into Achazi River where there were four campsites made up with teepees and inhabited during the fall (#29, 31, 32, and 33). Before the snowmobile became a common mean of transportation, the tallyman used to bring on his canoe one of his dogs that will be used to pull the sled after freeze- up. The other dogs (5 or 6) were left behind at Fort George and brought along later on in the winter.

After freeze-up, the tallyman mainly used the eastern sector of the trapline as a harvesting area but it could happen that he inverted this yearly pattern and trapped near the bay. In the eastern sector, the three mihtukuan near Atichikamis Lake (#35, 36 and 37) constituted the base camps where the women and children remained while the trappers went out to settle the traps, originally on snowshoes or dogsled and then on

2 snowmobile. During the winter, the tallyman could reach these camps from Fort George walking on snowshoes, in a single day if he was alone, or in four days if the rest of the nuclear family was coming along. The mihtukuan located at campsite #24 was the main winter camp in the central sector of the trapline. In the 1970s, John Sam, the current tallyman, still used a dog team to get to this camp where he left the dogs and continued on snowshoes to trap in the surrounding area. A very resourceful area for trapping beaver was on the southern shore of La Grande River in front of the islands and over a distance of about 10 km. Elsewhere, the river banks were too high to allow the beaver to build its lodge. For the last period of the winter, the tallyman returned to the western sector of the trapline where he trapped not directly on the James Bay but in the rivers, creeks and lakes running towards it. Five mihtukuan (#4, 5, 7, 8 and 12) and a teepee (#14) were the accommodations used while harvesting in this area. In general, the whole trapline was normally used during the winter but the tallyman would choose from what lodge to trap. In late March and early April, ice fishing, especially at the river junctions in the James Bay, was one of the main activities for the tallyman and as well as for other Crees form Fort George. Small trout and cisco were the ordinary fished species.

At the end of the winter and during the spring, the tallyman moved his activities back to the coastal area. Numerous spring camps made up with teepees (camps #1, 3, 9, 10 and 11) were settled in this region, mostly erected at the river mouths or in the small bays, not far from the goose feeding grounds. The area along the James Bay coast and in between Tees Bay and Aquatuc Bay was much valued and used by the Sam family. In the 1970’s, six families were using the trapline including among others Norman Sam’s nuclear family, Ernest Sam’s family, and Willie Spencer’s family. According to the interviewees, the families weren’t very big and there were only 9 children in total. Some were brought to the trapline, particularly those under school age, while the others were staying at residential school.

Fish was plentiful not only in the James Bay and La Grande River but also in the inland water bodies. Numerous lakes on the trapline were special fishing areas mostly for pike, sucker, speckled trout, and whitefish. Those were (from east to west): Namapi Lake, Atichikami Lake, Atichikamis Lake Nichikw Lake, Wastawawmakw Lake, and Kanisikamach Lake. La Grande River was also valued for its fishing resources and other than the first rapid, the Achazi River mouth was a good fishing spot for walleye and cisco. Most of the fishing sites as well as small game were also exploited by the community members, especially during the trapping off season. Bears were abundant and the tallyman hunted them even during the winter, inside their den. Fox, muskrat, otter, lynx and mink were the other kind of game available on the trapline. During the 1970s, moose, caribou, marten, rabbits and wolf were not commonplace species at hand.

The coastal region, where most of the camps were located was a valued area for the Sam family because all year long they could make their living from the resources in it. Besides this region, there were other sites scattered over the trapline that were valued by the family. Those were birth and burial sites. Near campsite #10 on the bay coast, there was an old burial of four children from Ernest generation (the previous tallyman). Another burial site was located on the island on La Grande River, just above the first rapid. This site has been immersed after the construction of La Grande-1 generating station and

3 reservoir. Ernest Sam’s birthplace is on campsite #11 while Eddie Sam’s (the tallyman’s brother) and Angus Sam’s (tallyman’s uncle) birth sites are located near camps #7 and #12 respectively. Another tallyman’s brother, Steven Sam, was born at campsite #10. All these birthplaces are encompassed in the family valued area.

4 Lac Amiyumakuskach

Lac Mwakw Lac R Nichuchakan ivi èr Stromness Harbour e Gu illa ume

Fort Rivière Chisasipis Île de George Île Goat Fort George CH1 (FG1)

La Gr ande Riv ière

First set of rapids

Lac Community-use site and gathering place Wastawawmakw Lac Kamisikamach Common Aquatuc fishing site ière iv Achazi R CH33 Rivière

Baie Aquatuc (VC1) See Note 1.

Lac Kaywakamaw

LLacac AAtichikamistichikamis CH Truite Lac la Rivière à Dead Duck Bay Wapanutaw Lac (VC Atichikami See No

Lac Kawachikataw Lac Lac Chinusaw Nawasi

Riv ièr Lac e C

CH9 (FG9) Note 2 CH1 (FG1) CH 2 (FG2) CH33 (VC1) CH35 Note 1 (VC3) Note 1 CH36 (VC4)

Grimmington Bay