Attawapiskat Cree land tenure and use, 1901-1989

Abstract

<p>This thesis is an examination of Attawapiskat (James Bay) Cree land tenure and use from 1901-1989. Analysis is focussed upon continuities and changes and how these have been shaped by the State as it sought to encapsulate the Cree people. Despite the incursions of mainstream White society, it is argued that the basic integrity of Cree culture has remained intact. Indeed, land use has remained fundamentally important, and in fact, subsistence hunting is as economically and culturally important today as it was half a century ago. Similarly, while hunting for trade has been reshaped, and in some instances redefined, to meet the exigencies of changing times, there is still a reliance upon the land. In terms of land tenure, deliberate attempts at eradication of traditional Cree notions of territoriality only resulted in a temporary adoption of the externally imposed concepts, and then a subsequent abandonment of them in favour of their own workable patterns of land "ownership". Contrary to some commonly held "truths", the introduction of White "culture" and White technologies has not resulted in the destruction or erosion of Native culture. Thus, while a process of encapsulation was initiated, a simultaneous process of resistance was maintained by the Cree.</p>