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The Grand Council is born

In 1971, Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa announced plans for a massive hydroelectric-power development in northern Quebec. Hydro-Québec would build a series of dams, dikes, reservoirs and power stations and divert major rivers to harness massive amounts of power. The government believed the James Bay Project was the key to its economic future, because cheap power would encourage new industry and create jobs. Called the "project of the century," it promised to create over 100,000 jobs. But the native people living in the area were not consulted at all.

The Grand Council of the Crees was created on Aug. 8, 1974, in Eastmain, Que., to defend Cree interests during negotiations on the James Bay hydroelectric project. In 1994, this political body celebrated its 20th anniversary. A ceremony was held to mark the occasion in Eastmain. The team behind Maamuitaau, the only TV program in the Cree language produced by CBC North, was on the scene. In this clip, host Emma Saganash talks to Grand Chief Ted Moses, one of the key negotiators for the James Bay Agreement.

Moses explains the Grand Council's role in negotiations with the government and Hydro-Québec. Widely scattered and poorly organized at first, Cree communities eventually joined forces to preserve their way of life, traditions, knowledge and land. Chiefs from different communities pooled their efforts to defend their people. Consultations were organized with the communities to determine their needs and claims.

The Grand Council of the Crees consists of 20 members: the grand chief and deputy grand chief, as well as one band chief and one delegate for each of the nine communities. The group represents the Cree east of James Bay and south of Hudson Bay in dealings with the federal and Quebec governments. The group's head office is in the village of Nemaska. In 1978, the Quebec government created the Cree Regional Authority (CRA). The Grand Council and the CRA share the same management.

The Grand Council is born

• The Canadian government transferred the vast James Bay region to Quebec in 1898 and 1912, through two Quebec Boundaries Extension Acts.
• Under the Boundaries Extension Act passed in 1912, Quebec could not develop the region unless it had first persuaded its "savage peoples" to waive their "ancestral rights."

• In 1972, as the first construction sites were opening, natives filed a motion for an injunction to block the project. On Nov. 15, 1973, Justice Albert Malouf rendered his bombshell decision to halt the work immediately. But the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, stating that "the interest of millions of Quebecers" overrode the interest of "about 2,000 of its citizens." A lengthy legal battle loomed. As a result, the Cree and the Quebec government decided to sit down together at the bargaining table.

• The result of the discussions was the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the first modern-day land treaty for a Canadian province. No other agreement on this scale existed in North America. Signed on Nov. 11, 1975, between the Cree, the Inuit and the governments of Canada and Quebec, the agreement covers an enormous territory of 656,000 sq. km. Under the treaty, native people relinquished their rights over the land in exchange for financial compensation amounting to about $135 million.

• The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement granted the Cree and Inuit exclusive hunting, fishing and trapping rights over the entire territory. The agreement gave them access to administrative powers and social services orchestrated by new agencies.

• The James Bay Agreement divides the land into three categories. Category I (14,000 sq. km) is land granted to native communities for their exclusive use. Category II (155,000 sq. km) is provincial territory where native people enjoy exclusive hunting, fishing and trapping rights. Finally, category III (911,000 sq. km) is defined as "provincial public land" where native people have the exclusive right to make use of certain wildlife resources.

• Initially enthusiastic about the agreement, dubbed the "Charter of Cree Rights" by Grand Chief Billy Diamond, native people gradually became disillusioned. Native activists eventually denounced the agreement as a modern treaty signed under duress and then breached. As Renée Dupuis explains in her book Tribus, peuples et nations, "the Cree deny that they gave up all their rights when they signed the agreement. The governments, however, claim that the federal law adopted after the signing extinguished these rights" (translation).

• From 1974 to 1984, Billy Diamond served as grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees. Ted Moses took over until 1987.
• Born in Eastmain in 1951, Ted Moses studied educational administration at McGill University. An interpreter and a chief negotiator during talks on James Bay, Moses became the first director of the Cree School Board in 1977.

• The Grand Council represents the Cree and defends their interests on the political stage at home and abroad. In 1987, the United Nations granted the group "consultative status."
• Ted Moses represents the Grand Council within the United Nations. He is the first Canadian aboriginal person to be elected rapporteur (someone appointed to investigate an issue and report back on it) for the United Nations seminar on the effects of racism on relations between indigenous peoples and governments.

• On Feb. 7, 2002, Grand Chief Ted Moses signed the Paix des Braves with Quebec premier Bernard Landry. This bilateral, nation-to-nation treaty recognizes the right of native people to profit from natural resources in their territory. The agreement put an end to lawsuits initiated by the Cree against the province of Quebec.
• Chief Ted Moses was chosen Person of the Year in 2002 at a gala ceremony held by La Presse and Radio-Canada.

The Grand Council is born

Medium: Television

Guest(s): Ted Moses, Smally Petawabano

Reporter: Emma Saganash

Duration: 15:45

Last updated:
March 26, 2008