Role+in+the+Contemporary+World

=Role in the Contemporary World =

The Cree have generally maintained healthy and symbiotic relationships with the Canadian government and corporations. Perhaps most well known, however, is the battle the Cree had over the James Bay Hydroelectric Project discussed on the "Effects of Colonialism" page. This was seen as a victory for the Cree because it proved that those reciprocal relationships it had developed were working. Besides the James Bay Agreement of 1975, there have been many more examples of the Cree interacting with the ever-changing world.

[[image:creeinfo/UN.jpg width="220" height="264" align="left"]]Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Every summer for a decade, representatives from indigenous populations would meet at the United Nations in Geneva to discuss the draft of the //Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples//. Members of the Cree, including representatives from the Grand Council of the Crees, attended a UN session that ran from July 29 to August 2, 1996 to present their support for the declaration. In a well-formed speech, Dr. Ted Moses argued that certain states' objections were based on discrimination and not valid logic: [].

The debate was about whether indigenous peoples had the right to self-determination or not. Dr. Moses says that states wish to refuse this right for fear of secession and independence, but that this is irrational because there are provisions to prevent abuse of the right. He then makes the bold statement that those states who want to deny the indigenous peoples their right to self-determination are simply using it as a mask for their truly racist views. Dr. Moses believes that they have ulterior motives: "I would also point out that the States which object to the recognition of our right of self-determination, do so on the basis that the recognition of our status as 'peoples' will lead to the recognition of the rights they refuse to recognize."

Though the declaration was adopted by the UN on September 13, 2007, Canada did not officially endorse it until November 12, 2010. This reluctance came from Canada's own input on the debate that stated that it supported the spirit of the declaration, but it seemed unworkable with the constitutional framework. After continued pressure from the Assembly of First Nations, the Canadian government decided the declaration was workable.



Relationships with Corporations
For the past four years, the Cree have been in a constant discussion with a mining company called Goldcorp. Goldcorp, the Council of the Wemindji, the GCC, and the CRA finally signed a contract that gives the company the permission to develop and operate a mine on Cree land. This is with the intent that Goldcorp will align its interests with the community in a way that is most beneficial to both parties. The company agreed to build a training center specifically for Cree in the hopes that they can then employ many Cree at the mine.

In these young stages of the agreement being implemented, both the Cree and Goldcorp are happy with the relationship as it is. When forming the contract, the Cree were impressed with how earnest Goldcorp was, and how much they hoped to work with and benefit the community (Goldcorp).