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Title: | Negotiating Recognition of Aboriginal Rights: History, Strategies and Reactions to the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. |
Authors: | Feit, Harvey A. |
Department: | Anthropology |
Keywords: | Recognizing Aboriginal Rights;Aboriginal Rights Negotiations;Co-governance;Modern Treaties;Subsistence Economies;Negotiating Strategies;James Bay Cree;James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) |
Publication Date: | 1983 |
Publisher: | Aboriginal Studies Press. Added to MacSphere with the permission of the publisher, 2019/04/09. |
Citation: | Feit, Harvey A. 1983. “Negotiating Recognition of Aboriginal Rights: History, Strategies and Reactions to the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.” In Aborigines, Land and Land Rights. Nicolas Peterson and Marcia Langton, eds. Canberra: Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies. Pp. 416-438. (This is a revised version of a 1980 article: “Negotiating Recognition of Aboriginal Rights: History, Strategies and Reactions to the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.” Canadian Journal of Anthropology. 1 [2]:159-172). |
Abstract: | This paper describes the context and logic of the negotiation of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the first modem aboriginal rights agreement in Canada, the first such agreement to recognize explicit Aboriginal rights, and the first to provide means designed to maintain and support subsistence activities. This paper indicates: the political setting and legal actions leading up to and constraining negotiations; the relationship of negotiations to a hydro-electric development scheme; the reasons the Cree people decided to pursue negotiations; the key objectives and positions of the Aboriginal and government parties; the general negotiating strategies adopted; the organization of negotiations; the Cree reasons for accepting the final agreement; and some of the reasons for the reactions of the various environmentalist and Aboriginal groups to the negotiations. The significance of the agreement and resulting legislation is discussed relevant to future aboriginal rights negotiations. -- Le présent article décrit les circonstances et explique le processus des négociations de la Convention de la Baie James et du Nord québécois. Cet accord, qui est le premier au Canada à reconnaître explicitement les droits autochtones, contient des stipulations destinées à protéger et à développer les activitiés de subsistence des Cris. Cet exposé analyse: les contextes politiques et juridiques durant les négociations; les répercussions du projet hydroélectrique sur les négociations; les raisons pour lesquelles les Cris décidèrent d'entamer les négociations; les principaux objectifs et les positions adoptées respectivement par les autochtones et les gouvernements concernés; les stratégies développées au cours des négociations; l'organisation des négociations; les raisons pour lesquelles les Cris ont accepté de signer la Convention; et les réactions des divers groupes écologistes et autochtones envers les négociations. L'accord et la législation sont étudiés en vue de futures négociations sur les revendications autochtones. |
Description: | This paper was prepared for the “Land Rights Symposium” held by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), in Canberra, May 21-22. 1980. I want to thank the AIATSIS for funding to enable me travel to the Northern Territory of Australia after the conference. Nicolas Peterson generously arranged, with others, for me to visit a range of Aboriginal communities and organizations, to attend land claims hearings, and to meet with participants from all the involved parties. The paper was initially published in 1980 in the Canadian Journal of Anthropology, 1 (2):159-172. The version included on this site was modestly revised for publication in the Symposium volume. I want to acknowledge and thank Peter W. Hutchins for his valuable suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/24240 |
ISBN: | 0 85575 143 6 |
Appears in Collections: | Anthropology Publications |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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FEIT_Negotiating_Recognition_of_Aboriginal_Rights-Peterson_ed_1983.pdf | 11.12 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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