James Bay Agreement: Colonial Conquest and Expropriation Continue

In a recent referendum, the James Bay Cree accepted an agreement with the Quebec government, ending one phase of their decades-long resistance to the expropriation of their traditional territories. The agreement, which was accepted by 70 percent of the voters, stipulates that the Cree will withdraw eight court challenges to economic development on their territories and agree to the construction of two new hydro-electric projects in the James Bay region. In return, the Quebec government has agreed to pay compensation amounting to $3.5 billion over 50 years.

The James Bay Cree had previously ceded the land in a 1975 agreement with the Quebec government, but continued to fight hydro-electric projects which would destroy their traditional hunting territories. This agreement will result in the flooding of vast areas of those hunting lands and contribute further to the destruction of the traditional way of life of the James Bay Cree.

The Cree leaders who advocated acceptance of the deal are hoping that the monetary compensation will help to alleviate some of the serious social problems besetting their people. However, the history of colonial conquest of Aboriginal territories in Canada does not tend to support those hopes.

The modus operandi of the colonialists in Canada has been to systematically disrupt and destroy the existing economies of the Aboriginal peoples, leaving them destitute and starving. Negotiations then take place on an unequal footing, with the Canadian state offering economic security in return for the cessation of Aboriginal title to the land. Once the land has been expropriated, the Canadian state has demonstrated little interest in keeping its promises of economic security. The Quebec government has also followed the same path in its past dealing with Aboriginal peoples.

Even if the Quebec government does not renege on its end of this unequal bargain with the James Bay Cree, the problems of a people stripped of their traditional economy cannot be reduced to alternate sources of livelihood. The entire culture of a people rests on their economic activity. Destroying their economic base necessarily destroys their culture, as well. To those who consider European culture the epitome of human accomplishments, this may seem a small price to pay for economic progress. They may even see the forcible end of the Cree's traditional hunting and gathering economy as a blessing bestowed on a more "primitive" people, just as the British and others regarded the destruction of African societies as a noble deed, as the "white man's burden".

However, enlightened humanity considers the deliberate destruction of Aboriginal culture to be a form of genocide, no better than ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity. The scars it leaves on the psyche of its victims are just as deep and the results can be seen in the soaring suicide rates amongst the youth in many Aboriginal communities. Money does little or nothing to erase such scars. In fact, money and the culture that goes with it, especially in the form of social assistance, have accelerated the destruction of traditional economies and intensified all of the social problems of those communities. The people still live in poverty, but without the dignity and spiritual well-being of their traditional way of life. Financial compensation alone, without the development of new, transitional forms of economic activity which allow for a gradual transformation of their cultures in ways acceptable to Aboriginal peoples, will only exacerbate all of the existing social problems.

Canadians pride themselves on having created a modern, enlightened society. However, that pride is stained not only by the legacy of colonialism, but also by the continuing colonial conquest of Aboriginal peoples. Canadian society cannot move forward until it comes to grips with this fact and gives rise to new arrangements with Aboriginal peoples, arrangements based on genuine equality and mutual respect. The starting point for the creation of such a new arrangement must be the recognition by the Canadian state of Aboriginal rights, the most fundamental of which are the right to pursue a traditional way of life and the right to a sufficient land base to make such a way of life feasible.