Eastmain ( meaning "Lands east of James Bay") is a

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

First Nation of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Its members primarily live in the ''Terres réservées aux Cris'' or

Cree reserved land The following is a list of the types of Local government in Quebec, local and Wiktionary:supralocal, supralocal territorial units in Quebec, Canada, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affa ...

(

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

) of Eastmain, Quebec. It is governed by a

band council In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

and is a member of the

Tribal Council A tribal council is an association of First Nations bands in Canada, generally along regional, ethnic or linguistic lines. An Indian band, usually consisting of one main community, is the fundamental unit of government for First Nations in Can ...

of 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 20,000 Cree people (who call themselves "Eeyou" or "Eenou" in the various dialects of East ...

Location

The reserve is on the southern shore at the mouth of the

Eastmain River The Eastmain River, formerly written East Main, is a river in west central Quebec. It rises in central Quebec and flows west to James Bay, draining an area of . The First Nations Cree village of Eastmain is located beside the mouth. Name Eastm ...

as it empties into the eastern shore of

James Bay James Bay (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island. Numerous waterways of the ...

. Adjacent to the reserved land is the ''village cri'' or Cree village of the

same name ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...

. A Cree village is set aside for the use of the Nation, but members do not permanently residing there. The community is one of nine Cree First Nations that make up

Eeyou Istchee Eeyou Istchee is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) of Quebec that is represented by the Grand Council of the Crees. On July 24, 2012, the Quebec government signed an accord with the Cree Nation that resulted in the a ...

, an

equivalent territory An equivalent territory (, ), formally known as territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (), is a territorial unit used by Statistics Canada and the Institut de la statistique du Québec. Quebec is divided into 87 regional county mun ...

which is an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

within the

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 ( ...

territory of

Nord-du-Québec Nord-du-Québec (; ) is the largest, but the least populous, of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada. Spread over nearly 14 degrees of latitude, north of the 49th parallel, the region covers on the Labrador Peninsula, making ...

(Northern Quebec). The Eastmain Cree reserved land is and Eastmain Cree village is . The community is accessible by road; to the

James Bay Road The James Bay Road (), officially the Billy-Diamond Highway (), is a remote wilderness highway winding its way through the Canadian Shield in northwestern Quebec and reaches into the James Bay region. It starts in Matagami, Quebec, Matagami as an ...

which connects to the cities of the south. The community's airport,

Eastmain River Airport Eastmain River Airport , is located southwest of Eastmain, Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the province ...

, has regular service by

Air Creebec Air Creebec Inc. is a Cree-owned regional airline based in Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada. It operates scheduled and air charter, charter services to 16 destinations in Quebec and Ontario. Its main base is Val-d'Or Airport, with a hub at Timmins Vi ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and other Cree and northern communities.

History

Ancestors of today's First Nations occupied the region around James Bay for more than 7000 years with artifacts dated to 3000–3500 years ago. Nomad hunters followed game as the last glaciers melted. Eventually, the groups later permanently establishing themselves in what is known as ''Eeyou Istchee'' (the Cree traditional territory in eastern James Bay).

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

, during his exploration of the bay with his name, first made contact with the Crees of James Bay in 1610. After spending the winter of 1668–1669, explorers

Pierre-Esprit Radisson Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636/1640–1710) was a French coureur des bois and explorer in New France. He is often linked to his brother-in-law Médard des Groseilliers. The decision of Radisson and Groseilliers to enter the English service led to ...

and

Médard des Groseilliers Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (born 1618) was a French explorer and fur trader in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson, who was about 20 years younger. The pair worked together in fur trading and explorat ...

convinced the English Crown, primarily

Prince Rupert of the Rhine Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

that a colonial enterprise in the bay would yield wealth in minerals and fur. This led to the creation of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. As a result, the trading outposts were established in the region and the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

boomed. Eastmain got its name in 1730 by the local Hudson's Bay trading post that had become the company's trading headquarters for the east coast of James Bay and Hudson Bay. The town was known as East Main House and was originally on the north shore of the Eastmain River, but in 1762, Eastmain was relocated to the south shore because it provided easier access to the town from the James Bay. Cree people began to settle in the area and the community of Eastmain was established in the early 18th century, however, the territory was reserved for the use of the Crees only in 1962.

Population

, Eastmain had a total registered population of 917 members with 806 living on the reserve. During

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

's 2016 Census, the reserve had 866 residents up from 767 in 2011, a 12.9% increase.

Languages

The

people speaks the

Cree language Cree ( ; also known as Cree–Montagnais language, Montagnais–Naskapi language, Naskapi) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 86,475 people across Canada in 2021, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to ...

. According to the 2016 Census, 87.3% of the members of the Eastmain First Nation have an indigenous language as

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

. 92.5% speak an indigenous language at home and 94.2% know an indigenous language. For

official languages An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

, 76.9% know only

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, 0% know only

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, 17.9% know both, while 5.2% don't speak either official language..

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Official website
* {{Grand Council of the Crees First Nations governments in Quebec Cree governments