Environmental+Issues+Important+to+Cree

=__Environmental Issues Important To the Cree:__ =

The Cree indians do not encounter many environmental issues but there are some that really hit the forefront. For example the main concern as the Cree keep residing and their territorial Canada, is how to contain the aboriginal lifestyle in the modern growing territory of Canada. = __Oil/ Land Disputes:__ =

= __Territory and Resource Compromises:__ =
 * 1) So one environmental issue that has occurred that has much controversy and large amounts of media to cover the topic is the oil companies invading or having well sites near the aboriginal territory. This came up in 1999 when the Cree Indians belonging to the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribe of Lesser Slave Lake demanded that the oil companies start paying royalties on wellsites, even when drilling is off reserve on nearby crown lands (Steel, Kevin). They expected other bands of tribes to follow with the suit if the Kee Tas Kee Now were successful.Yet the oil companies, one in particular called Suncor was in defense and didn't respond with open arms to the idea. The Alberta Report, a Newsmagazine in Canada, wrote how the demands by the Cree Indians could eventually lead to a confrontation with the provincial government. When the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council first threatened area oil and gas companies with disruptions unless they paid $3,000 per wellsite and sourced all service contracts through Indian-owned companies, Alberta Energy Minister Steve West applauded their initiative (Steel,Kevin). "In a free enterprise system, First Nations are entitled to bid on a job and a company is free to accept any bid," he said (Steel, Kevin). Yet the Cree indians found that violence was the only way to get an angry response from Mr. West, which was, "This has got to stop", he also told a reporter, "If a non-aboriginal tried that on public land, there would be a legal interpretation of what that was."(Steel, Kevin) In conclusion it went to settlement and it is still an environmental Issue that is a struggle today.
 * Not only do the Cree Indians deal with the struggle of oil companies invading their territories but they have to worry about competing with the modern government for a share of the resources that were originally theirs. So in February 2002, there was a compromise of land and resources between the Crees of Quebec and the Quebec government. They signed an agreement called, "La Paix des Braves", (Peace of the Braves) that was designed to implement new structures of economic development in northern Quebec (Desbiens, Caroline).The document was characterized as a "nation-to-nation" agreement that promised greater participation by the Crees in the management and exploitation of natural resources on the territory. The compromise is really saying that the Crees and Québécois do not simply compete for the resources of James Bay but can be said to define and firm up the the boundaries of their respective nation in and through the use of these resources (Desbiens, Caroline).

= __Water Issue:__ =

//Within his letter he said,// //"First and Foremost of our concerns regarding this development is the impact on our river. Since ancient times we had regarded water as a precious element, hold it as a sacred part of our ceremonies. The creator used this sacred element, along with that of the air, the spirit of fire, and mother earth herself to create humanity. Indeed, not one of us can blink an eye, draw breath, or speak without water. Every cell in our beings requires this element in order to function. Today, as in ages past, we still honor this life giving force in our daily ceremonies. The women of our nations are the ones who conduct the water portions of our ceremonies, since they share with water the power to bring forth life. It is the eldest and wisest woman present, usually a grandmother who conducts the teaching and instructs the rest of the women about responsibility to care and to protect the water as a powerful spirit and medicinal entity. We know that our community, as well as the James Bay and the surrounding rivers are like the veins of mother earth."(The Safe Drinking..)//
 * The Cree Indians main environmental issues deal with the resources they use in everyday life and that are essential to living. One thing that essential to life is water which is one resource that is a struggle to keep clean. The Cree call water "Nipllh", and a Chief of one of the Cree Tribes presented why water was so important and why the decisions Canada makes with it are so vital to their society. It was Chief Kenny Blacksmiths who said, ""Nipllh" is vital to the well-being of lands and to its flora, fauna and to the integrity of our environment as a whole. (The Safe Drinking..) In terms of our history, culture and survival, "Nipllh" has always been and continues to be, a critical significant life giving resource to our people, our communities and our nations. Water or "nipllh" is intricately involved in all aspects of life." (The Safe Drinking..)[[image:Cree_PQ10.gif width="326" height="461" align="right"]]
 * The Cree have been fighting back against the invading modern society to protect their lands and everyday resources. When Chief Blacksmiths shed some light on the aboriginal perspective and the misuse of water by others, it was to protect it because Canada was proposing the idea of selling its water. Another time their water was threatened was when their was the proposed idea of a possible diamond mine to be built in the James Bay lowlands in Ontario (The Safe Drinking..).
 * In oppisition to that proposal Mike Koostachin, a Attawapiskat First Nation member wrote a letter to the Federal Regulators to share the views of the Cree people in regards to the threatening mine development (The Safe Drinking..).
 * This letter was very true to the Cree culture due to the fact that they really do celebrate water and use it with everything they do. By writing the letter it gave many people a glimpse into the Aboriginal perspective of the importance of water or "Nipllh". This created many programs to protect the resources such as water for the Aboriginal people as well as others that live in the country. Such programs as The Safe Water Drinking Foundation and Operation Water Drop (The Safe Drinking..).

= __Essentials To The Cree Environment:__ =

There are many types of Cree Indians but two stand out with there essential necessities in the way they live there life. There are two main types and the names just separate the way the bands lived. The two types are the Plains Cree and the Woodlands Cree. The Plains Cree usually derive from prairie regions, especially in southern Manitoba and Alberta. The Woodland Cree derived their name from living in forested land that was further north and east. They both share the same language and customs but they just have different necessities because of their different environments (Redish, Laura).
 * **The Plains Cree**: used buffalo hide a lot to build their teepees. The Plain Cree were more of nomadic people so it was much easier to use buffalo hide to pitch large tents or teepees. (Redish, Laura)
 * **The Woodland Cree:** used birchbark for many things such as building canoes, villages of houses or //wigwams//, and sometimes arrows or bows. The birchbark helped to was used for houses because they were stable and were good to stay in for months at a time. Birchbark was very common in their environment so it was always a huge necessity. (Redish, Laura)