The Agreement Respecting a New Relationship Between the Cree Nation and the Government of Quebec (dubbed as ''La Paix des Braves'', French for "The Peace of the Braves" by the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establis ...

government) is an agreement between the

Government of Quebec A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

, Canada, and the

Grand Council of the Crees The Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) or the GCC(EI) (ᐄᔨᔨᐤ ᐊᔅᒌ in Cree), is the political body that represents the approximately 18,000 Cree people (who call themselves "Eeyou" or "Eenou" in the various dialects of East ...

. It was signed on February 7, 2002 in

Waskaganish Waskaganish ( cr, ᐙᔅᑳᐦᐄᑲᓂᔥ/Wâskâhîkaniš, Little House; ) is a Cree community of over 2,500 people at the mouth of the Rupert River on the south-east shore of James Bay in Northern Quebec, Canada. Waskaganish is part of the t ...

Jamésie Jamésie is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) of Nord-du-Québec, Canada. Its geographical code is 991 and together with Kativik TE and Eeyou Istchee TE it forms the administrative région and census division (CD) ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, after decades of

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

battles between the Cree and the Government of

. The name was inspired by the 1701

Great Peace of Montreal The Great Peace of Montreal (french: La Grande paix de Montréal) was a peace treaty between New France and 39 First Nations of North America that ended the Beaver Wars. It was signed on August 4, 1701, by Louis-Hector de Callière, governor of ...

, also known as "La Paix des Braves".

Summary

Negotiated by

Premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of t ...

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader o ...

and Grand Chief of the Crees

Ted Moses Ted Moses, (born 1950) is a Cree politician from Eastmain, a small remote village in northern Quebec, Canada. He is a former Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees. In addition, Mr. Moses is a recipient of the title of "Officer" of the ...

, the Agreement implemented existing obligations of the Quebec government to the Cree people under section 28 of the James Bay Agreement of 1975 after decades of

battles. It provided for the sharing of revenues and joint management by the Cree and the Quebec government of mining, forestry and hydroelectric resources on traditional Cree lands in Quebec, known as the Eeyou Istchee. It also aimed to develop a more balanced participation in employment and revenue in natural resource industries for the Cree in

Northern Quebec Northern Quebec (french: le nord du Québec) is a geographic term denoting the northerly, more remote and less populated parts of the Canadian province of Quebec.Alexandre Robaey"Charity group works with Indigenous communities to feed Northern Queb ...

. Its preamble recognizes the treaty as a symbolic "nation to nation" agreement between the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree o ...

and

. This 50-year agreement allows for joint jurisdiction between the Quebec government and Cree in the seven municipalities of

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost p ...

and surrounding territories. In exchange, the Cree consented to

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

development of the

Eastmain Eastmain ( ; cr, ᐄᔅᒣᐃᓐ/Îsmein) is a Cree community located on east coast of James Bay at the mouth of the Eastmain River, Quebec, Canada. It is a small coastal Cree village with a population of 924 people in the 2021 Canadian Censu ...

and

Rupert River The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec, Canada. From its headwaters in Lake Mistassini, the largest natural lake in Quebec, it flows west into Rupert Bay on James Bay. The Rupert drains an area of . There is some extremely la ...

s by

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Canadian province of Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeast United States. It was established by t ...

. The Agreement followed recommendations made by the

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was a Canadian royal commission established in 1991 with the aim of investigating the relationship between Indigenous peoples in Canada, the Government of Canada, and Canadian society as a whole. ...

, abandoning the notion that First Nation peoples in Canada must extinguish claims to their territories in order to settle land claim disputes. Moses declared that Quebec became a leader in the application of the principles recognized by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

regarding aboriginal development. Quebec will be able to show that the respect of aboriginals is compatible with its national interest. Furthermore, he stated that the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

should inspire itself with this agreement in its negotiations with Natives across the country. Moses also lauded Premier Landry's new attitude: "He understands that the Crees must be part of Quebec's vibrant economy and a living part of its economic and cultural mosaic."

Matthew Coon Come Matthew Coon Come (born April 13, 1956) is a Canadian politician and activist of Cree descent. He was National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations from 2000 to 2003. Born near Mistissini, Quebec, Coon Come was first educated at LaTuque India ...

, a former Grand Chief who had opposed the Quebec Government (notably on hydroelectric development) and the sovereigntist movement in the past, said: "This is the type of cooperation and financial engagement that the federal government should offer to other native nations", calling on the federal government to follow the recommendation of the Royal Commission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agreement Respecting A New Relationship Between The Cree Nation And The Government Of Quebec Cree First Nations history in Quebec Political history of Quebec Eeyou Istchee (territory) Treaties concluded in 2002 2002 in Quebec Treaties of Indigenous peoples in Canada

Summary

See also

References