EMERGENCE AND COMMUNITY: THE WASHAW SIBI EEYOUCH David Lessard Department of Anthropology McGill University Montreal November 2013 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy McGill University Montreal, Quebec ©David Lessard, 2013 Abstract Drawing on twelve months of multi-sited ethnography with members of the Washaw Sibi Eeyouch Association (WSEA), this dissertation investigates how notions of community and identity are constructed, interact with each other, and are transformed in a context of ongoing social and institutional change that allows a reflexion about the concept of emergence. Using both ethnographic and historical material, the body of this dissertation deals with different periods of the history of the Harricana River watershed, where Washaw Sibi’s traditional territories are located, namely: the early fur trade, the Treaty and post-Confederation period, and the establishment of the WSEA from the 1980’s to the current period. The WSEA is an incorporated organization working for political recognition and the establishment of a village of their own in northern Quebec. The organization is working toward full inclusion under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) as a Quebec Cree community, which will bring about probable financial, political and social benefits to the group. During the research, for many decades prior to the research, and still to the present day, members have been scattered across different locales of Northern Quebec and Ontario because of a history of nomadism and government policies which caused the relocation and the social and geographical fragmentation of the group at several times in the past two hundred years. Recognition as a community of JBNQA beneficiaries implies renewed relationships with state institutions and the establishment of forms of collective life similar to those of other Quebec Cree communities. It thus brings fundamental changes for the group and the emergence of a form of communal life that its members have never experienced before as Wahshaw Sibi Eeyouch, the village. The analysis shows how colonial powers and the state have contributed to the emergence of local social and symbolic boundaries, leading to the historical exclusion of the Washaw Sibi group from historical treaties and from the JBNQA, among other things. The discussion analyses the different conflicts, gains and losses emerging when one claims a Cree or Washaw Sibi identity in a context characterized by a multiplicity of overlapping identities, a diversity of historical experiences, and singular political dynamics affecting the group. The dissertation builds on social anthropological theory of subarctic bands to emphasize the fluidity, adaptability and pragmatism of the social organization of regional aboriginal populations. At the same time, it involves concepts of symbolic violence and habitus to deal with the complex relationships between social reproduction and change, and more specifically with local experiences of colonialism as well as ongoing transformations occurring in members’ social networks and living conditions. 2 Résumé S’appuyant sur douze mois de travail ethnographique multi-site avec les membres de l’Association Washaw Sibi Eeyouch (WSEA), cette thèse analyse comme les notions de communauté et d’identité sont construites, interagissent entre elles et se transforment dans un contexte de changement social et institutionnel appelant à une réflexion sur le concept d’émergence. À l’aide de matériel ethnographique et historique, le corps de la thèse traite de différents moments de l’histoire du bassin hydrographique de la rivière Harricana, où sont principalement situés les territoires traditionnels de Washaw Sibi. Principalement, ces sections traitent de la traite des fourrures, la période suivant la Confédération, l’ère des traités et l’établissement de la WSEA, des années 1980 jusqu’à la situation actuelle. La WSEA est une organisation incorporée travaillant à la reconnaissance politique du groupe et à l’établissement d’un village dans le nord du Québec. L’organisation travaille à l’inclusion complète du groupe sous la Convention de la Baie James et du Nord québécois (CBJNQ) en tant que communauté crie, ce qui apporterait des bénéficies financiers, politiques et sociaux au groupe. Depuis plusieurs décennies jusqu’au moment de réaliser cette recherche, les membres de ce dernier ont été dispersés dans différentes localités du nord du Québec et de l’Ontario étant donné leur nomadisme traditionnel et une histoire de politiques gouvernementales qui ont amené la relocalisation du groupe et sa fragmentation sociale et géographique, plusieurs fois au cours des deux derniers siècles. La reconnaissance en tant que communauté bénéficiaire de la CBJNQ implique l’émergence de relations renouvelées avec certaines institutions autochtones et étatiques et le développement de formes de vie collective similaire à celles d’autres communautés cries du Québec. Cela signifie donc des changements fondamentaux pour le groupe et l’émergence d’une vie communautaire que ses membres n’ont jamais expérimenté auparavant comme Washaw Sibi Eeyouch. L’analyse montre comment les pouvoirs coloniaux et l’état ont contribué à l’émergence de frontières symboliques et sociales locales, menant à l’exclusion historique du groupe de Washaw Sibi par rapport aux traités historiques et à la CBJNQ, entre autres. La discussion analyse les différents conflits, gains et pertes liés au fait de se réclamer d’une identité crie ou Washaw Sibi dans un contexte caractérisé par une multiplicité d’identités imbriquées les unes dans les autres, une diversité d’expériences historiques et des dynamiques politiques particulières affectant le groupe. La thèse se réfère à la théorie anthropologique concernant les bandes autochtones du subarctique qui insistent sur la fluidité, l’adaptabilité et le pragmatisme de l’organisation sociale au niveau régional. Aussi, la thèse s’appuie sur les concepts de violence symbolique et d’habitus pour traiter des relations complexes entre reproduction et changement social et, plus spécifiquement, des expériences locales du colonialisme. 3 Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the presence, the help and the support of many people to whom I wish to express my gratitude. First, I would like to thank the people of Washaw Sibi, living in Amos, Pikogan, Val d’Or, Timmins, Cochrane, Waskaganish, and other localities, who participated in this research. More precisely, I want to thank chiefs Billy Katapatuk, Pauline Trapper-Hester, Alice Jérôme, and Steve Diamond. The list of people to whom I want to express my gratitude is too long to write here, but I owe debts of gratitude to the Wapachee family, the Trapper family the Polson family and, from Pikogan, the Mowatt and Kistabish families. In particular, I would like to thank Lillian, Fred, Aaron, Jim, Molly, Frances, Édouard, and Beatrice. I wish to thank many people from McGill. First, my supervisor Colin Scott provided invaluable support throughout my PhD experience and the preparation and writing of this dissertation. From the faculty and staff at the Department of Anthropology, I also would like to thank Ronald Niezen, Lisa Stevenson, Alberto Sánchez-Allred, Gretchen Bakke, Olga Harmazy, Cynthia Romanyk, and Kristin Norget for their support and feedback at different times during this project. I also would like to thank Marie-Pierre Bousquet from Université de Montréal. Many friends and colleagues made the last six years at McGill more pleasant, taught me, and shared with me great moments: Noor Johnson, Jessica Dolan, Pascal Gaudette, Gabriella Djerrahian, Mélanie Chaplier, Ivet R. Maturano, Lerona Lewis, 4 Claudia Masferrer, Paula Godoy-Paiz, Paige MacDougall, Carolina Pineda, Katherine Scott, Corey Wright, Shanna Strauss, Sébastien Bluteau, Marie-Pierre Gadoua, Pierre Minn, Karen McAllister, Amber Lee Silva Philippe Messier, Catherine Larouche, Brodie Noga, Qiuyu Jiang. I owe special gratitude to my friend Anne-Elise Keen for the different tasks and projects on which we collaborated, for her support and for her friendship throughout my experience at McGill. This dissertation was possible because of the financial support received from the Fonds québécois de la 5illenniu sur la société et la culture and the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. I owe my greatest gratitude to my friends and family who provided me with moral and material support in their own ways. I would like to thank my friends Dan Grapé and Robert Lavoie, for their active support throughout the writing of this dissertation, and Sami Kozah, for his engagement, friendship, teachings and support in the last months of the writing process. I owe my greatest debt to my parents, Rock and Angèle, and siblings, nephews and nieces, Julie, Martin, Gaëlle, Éric, Fay, Éthan and Ellie, for their love and support, and who inspired me in following this path. Montreal, April 2013 5 TABLE OF CONTENT Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 2 Résumé ................................................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 4 Table of Figures ...............................................................................................................