Effects+of+Colonialism

**__Colonization and Assimilation of the Cree Indians of Canada __**

**Introduction**
The Cree Indians of Canada, just like their contemporaries in the United States, have been affected greatly by the imposition of the white man. Because they were so great in number it is hard to discuss and asses the problems of all the individual nations. However, one particular group has experienced the effects of white governance and displacement due to colonial powers more than others. The Woodland Cree's reside in Northern Alberta although, at one time, their territory stretched from the Hudson Bay as far north as Churchill and into parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The problems for the Cree began in the early 20th Century. Although Canadians played a role in Cree social life late in the 1800's, the "governance was slow to be felt" until the early 1920's(Feit: Part II).

** Early 20th Century **
In the early 1920's the Cree were experiencing problems with white trappers on their land. The Quebec government stepped in and resolved the issue by implementing a ban on all killing of beaver by non-Indians. Then in the 1930's they augmented the ban to say that all killing of beaver was prohibited. The Cree complied and some had already vowed to abstain from beaver hunting previous to the decision. The ban was lifted ten to twenty years later considering the large growth in beaver populations. The government agreed to work with Cree stewards in order to establish hunting territories and to monitor the number of beaver lodges in each territory each year. This collaboration gave the Cree a somewhat powerful role concerning their game lands. Unfortunately, this collaboration would be the cause for the beginning of Cree/Canadian conflict. As the government attempted to control the Cree's hunting patterns based on numbers only the Cree baulked and went about their natural, much more intelligent methods of assessment. Both sides assumed each other was complying with their own regulations. The government was under the impression that the Cree hunting was regulated and supervised by a Canadian authority. The Cree believed that the government had recognized their own systems and respected their self-governance.

Finally, in the 1930's the government decided to implement a form of band government structure despite the fact that many bands already had an establish system of governance with a chief and council system. What the federal Department of Indian Affairs did is create an election system under the Indian Act. Initially the Indian agents' jobs were to communicate with government officials and divvy out a surplus of clothing and food. Now they became a candidate for each band to gather election results and forward them to the Quebec government. Although this resulted in aid for those in need in Cree bands, ultimately it represented a turning point in the Cree society. The government had now successfully "bound the Cree within the fabric of Canadian political society, law, and economy for the first time" in such a way that it was not clear to them. They practiced control and autonomy in their hunting culture, but now as a part of the Canadian polity(Feit: Part II).

Mid 20th Century
Into the 1950's and 1960's the government became ever more present in Cree life, expanding their domains to "open up the north" for other Canadians. This was done so that the resources of the region could be accessed by southern Canadians. These changes were deliberately made to assimilate the Cree and ultimately avoided their consultation. Other forms of expansion included: railroads, roads, town migrations, larger populations, and use of airplanes. All of these would eventually come to affect the Cree way of life. The railroads displaced Cree whose land it ran through and it scared away animals that would normally be hunted. The expansion of towns and a growth in population took over parts of Cree hunting territory, forcing them to go elsewhere to look for food. Not once were the Cree consulted or even considered when the planning for this expansion was taking place.

Other problems arose when roadside shrubs were being sprayed with chemicals to reduce their growth as well as industries that were being built in fertile regions. The waste produced by these artificial materials contaminated rivers, poisoned plants and animals, and therefore made it difficult for the Cree to find clean food in abundance. Due to a rise in mercury levels in the water the government advised the Cree to cease from fishing. A saw mill was dumping its waste into the river and polluting populations of fish. After more research was done the mill reduced its level of waste output and the fish became a source of food again. The government improved the medical services for the Cree in the 1940's, but ironically a few decades later they were the cause of the health problems Cree endured.

More development meant more jobs and another way of stimulating the economy. The Cree, still trying to assimilate themselves as much as possible while attempting to keep their autonomy, took up many positions working for these developmental projects. The Cree were well aware of how employment worked with respect to them after their experience with the Hudson Bay Company. If they found a position with a company it was likely to only last a short while. Most companies eventually failed, moved, or fired the natives first. With this upper-hand they decided to take jobs that related to hunting where they could use their natural bush skills. The government was not quite pleased with this because they saw it as a slow progression towards the abandonment of hunting for wage labor. As a response the government revoked social aid and supportive services to speed the up the transition. Because they considered the Cree to be impoverished the government began to plan more expansive and "supportive" systems. The "process included: the formation of reserves, the construction of permanent settlements, and the establishment of schools. Each of these factors contributed to the shift in economic opportunities, but none was decisive until the crisis in hunting"(Feit: Part II). Schools became the biggest change yet. Now that Cree children were more or less forced to attend schools, the distance, both physically and emotionally, between child and parent grew. As the children became more assimilated into western culture their parents found it difficult to understand them, and vice versa. Many people realized this and soon "one-third of a community's children were kept out of school each year to learn bush skills and the hunting way of life. Thus, the Cree kept some control over the education of their children"(Feit: Part II). This allowed Cree parents to emphasize the importance of both hunting and employment as activities.

Although their original intentions seemed in good nature, the result of these government expansions was inevitably an economic crisis for the Cree including underemployment and unemployment due to the lack of hunting jobs available. The crisis also caused educational and social problems for the cree. However, the Cree are resilient and took this assimilation as an opportunity to take hold of their future. Their seizure of the newly provided education allowed for them to pursue worldly occupations, putting them in positions in the community as active leaders in social and political life.

Late 20th Century
In April 1971, the Quebec government announced its plans for construction of a hydroelectric plant in the James Bay region. The Cree were never consulted during the planning process, nor was their well being taken into consideration. Because of this negligence, the Cree gathered together and discussed the project. Not surprisingly, their unanimous vote was against the construction of the plant, however they did not want to outright oppose the project. Instead they attempted to speak with the government and suggest alternatives in the plans that would still benefit the plant, but not do as much damage to the Cree and their surrounding territory. They even began to reach out to other indigenous tribes of the area as well as the general public of Quebec. Unfortunately the government would not compromise and the project continued as planned. The Cree were now past peaceful compliance and decided to oppose the project completely. Their goal was to use legal actions to force the Quebec government into discussions about the problem, in which they succeeded in part by initiating the longest temporary injunction hearing in Canadian history. Now all the Cree had to do was prove that they had rights to the land being affect by the plant, that the project would damage their exercise of these rights, and that the damages would be irreversible(Feit: Part II).

The Project ([])
The period of construction of the first phase of the project covered about 14 years. By 1986, the largest power stations and reservoirs on the La Grande River were mostly completed, including the Robert-Bourassa(originally named La Grande-2), La Grande-3 and La Grande-4 generating stations. The Eastmain and Caniapiscau river diversions each added about 800 m³/s of water to the La Grande River. The power plants of the first phase of the James Bay Project produce about 65 TWh of power each year, operating at about 60% of their maximum rated generating capacity. During this first phase of construction, over 155,000,000 m³ (203 million cubic yards) of fill, 138,000 tons of steel, 550,000 tons of cement, and nearly 70,000 tons of explosives were used. Concurrent employment by the project reached 18,000. Of the 215 dikes and dams, many surpassed the height of skyscrapers, with one reaching 56 stories. The terraced diversion channel at Robert-Bourassa generating station was carved one hundred feet deep into the side of a mountain. Water tumbles from the reservoir to the river below at a height greater than that of Niagara Falls. A 3,000 mile network of transmission lines was necessary to bring generated power to consumers in southern Quebec. The network contains several 735-kilovolt lines and one 450-kilovolt DC line directly linked to the U.S. power grid(Marsh).
 * Phase I **

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, construction of the second phase of the James Bay project centered on the construction of five secondary power plants on the La Grande River and its tributaries, adding a further 5,200 MW of generating capacity by the end of 1996. Three new reservoirs covering an area of 1,600 km² were created, including the Laforge-1 Reservoir covering 1,288 km². The generating plants of this second phase of the project produce about 18.9 TWh of power per year, operating at between 60% and 70% of their maximum rated generating capacity. On March 13, 1989, a massive solar storm caused a failure of the La Grande complex which plunged most of Quebec into darkness for nine hours(Marsh).
 * Phase II **

During the construction of the second phase of the James Bay Project, Hydro-Québec proposed an additional project on the Great Whale River, just to the north of the La Grande River watershed. Opposition among the Cree was even more vocal this time than in the early 1970s. In 1990, Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come organized a canoe trip from Hudson Bay to the Hudson River, in Albany,New York, and this very effective public relations stunt brought international pressure to bear on the government of Quebec. The Cree had experienced considerable culture shock with the introduction of permanent transportation routes to the south and very few Cree were employed on the construction site. Poverty and social problems remained important in the isolated Cree and Inuit villages of Northern Quebec, even in areas where there were no hydroelectric or mining activities(Marsh).
 * Great Whale River proj **** ect **

By the 1980s, the natural ebb and flow of the La Grande, Eastmain and Caniapiscau rivers had been severely modified, notably delaying the formation of a solid ice cover near the Cree village of Chisasibi and about 4% of the traditional hunting and trapping territories of the Cree had been lost to the rising waters of the reservoirs, including about 10% of the territories of the Cree village of Chisasibi. At the same time, new roads, snowmobiles and bush airlines facilitated access to distant hunting territories of the interior. While highly motivated, the Cree's opposition to the Great Whale River Project was mainly ineffective until 1992 when the state of New York withdrew from a multi-billion dollar power purchasing agreement due to public outcry and a decrease in energy requirements. In 1994, the Government of Quebec and Hydro-Québec suspended the project indefinitely(Froschauer 1999: 77)

Conclusion
Lawyers for the Cree had argued that they were exercising the rights to the land for generations, including the rights to fish, hunt, gather and trap. This constituted an Indian title over the land. The case brought about the concept of Aboriginal rights and Indian, a very important landmark in law, which until that point had not been looked at closely. In response the government argued that it would only effect a small portion of the land, and the Cree did not utilize its resources like they used to. Only a small majority hunted and/or fished, and those that did only caught 20-25% of the total populations. The Cree had now become reliant upon the government for financial assistance and other supportive services, making them much less autonomous. However, in November 1973, Justice Maulof ruled that the Cree did have aboriginal rights, that they did indeed still depend on the land for their livelihood and nourishment, and it constituted a way of life. This ruling put a halt on the planning and ensured that the Cree were well protected(Feit: Part II).

In a way, this was a victory for the Cree. Although, it did show that they had become much more assimilated than before and that their conflicts with the government were surely not at an end. There would be much more trouble for years to come so long as both cultures continue to occupy the same land(Feit: Part II). However, it was also interpreted as a statement of good sense, reaffirming that relations between Cree and non-Natives could be guided by the principle of reciprocity that informs interrelations among all powerful beings in the Cree world(Scott qtd. in Feit).

Bibliography:

Feit, Harvey A. "James Bay Cree and Quebec Hydro Development." //Arctic Circle//. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. [|].

Froschauer, Karl. //White Gold: Hydroelectric Power in Canada//. Vancouver, Bc: University of British Columbia, 1999. 77. Print.

Marsh, James. "James Bay Project." //The Canadian Encyclopedia//. Canadian Encyclopedia. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. [|].

Muma, Walter. "Hydro-Quebec Project." //James Bay Road Website - Home Page//. Walter Muma. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. [|.]