Five First Nations in northern Manitoba’s Hudson Bay lowlands say an era of healing, hope and self-determination is on the horizon.
As the first brisk winds of fall arrived, members of York Factory, Shamattawa, War Lake, Tataskweyak and Fox Lake First Nations gathered at a cultural camp on the banks of the Nelson River northeast of Gillam, Man., for a landmark event.
After four years of patient work and community consultations, the five Cree — or Inninew — nations were ready to launch their proposal to establish an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) across their shared homelands.
Called Kitaskeenan Kaweekanawaynichikatek, which translates to “the land we want to protect,” the proposal would recognize the nations’ long-time stewardship of the region and offer an historic opportunity to formally manage and protect the land and waters under Indigenous laws and governance.
More than 50 Indigenous-led conservation projects like this one have popped up across Canada since the federal government introduced funding in 2018, in an effort to preserve biodiversity and nudge the country toward its goal of protecting 30 per cent of lands and waters by 2030.
For the five Inninew nations, Kitaskeenan is about a lot more than meeting conservation targets. The nations were once a single community living along the coastline around York Factory, at the mouth of the Hayes River. But they have been separated from each other — and their homeland — as industrial developments expanded across the north.
Most impactful: a series of hydroelectric developments on the Nelson River that came with what Fox Lake’s leader, Morris Beardy, called “devastating” consequences.
Manitoba Hydro dams along the river caused widespread flooding, erosion and mercury contamination. The Nelson was once a key transportation corridor for the nations, as well as a source of sustenance and clean drinking water. Today it’s too dangerous to travel on and too polluted to drink.
“We’re a resilient people. We’ve been through much,” Beardy says. “We just have to adapt.”
Kitaskeenan offers an opportunity to do just that. While any formal protected area designation is still many years away, the nations are hopeful the project could help to mend the divisions of the past and redefine the region’s future by preserving the land, water, language and culture for generations to come.
Here’s what the project — and the land — means to those who hope to protect it, in their own words.
Jimmy Beardy, a York Factory First Nation Elder
All my life I’ve been fighting for the northeast section of Manitoba, to keep it away from any more destruction than what I’ve seen in my lifetime. I’ve seen these Hydro dams go up. I want to keep one section away from any kind of development for the future generation. I used to go out on Split Lake back in ‘65 and travel around with my father and my brother, and we used to be able to drink from the water. Today I wouldn’t even touch it, I buy bottled water. I don’t even trust the water treatment plant, that’s how bad the water’s got and it’s going to get worse.
When I was 18 or 19 years old, I was living in York Landing, working there. They asked me if I wanted to go up [to York Factory] with an older gentleman to train me as a guide. I fell in love with that land. I couldn’t believe how pure it was. The air was clean. The water I could drink right out where it ran off the creeks. And I always thought I would never ever let that get away from us.
I took young people [to York Factory] over the years and they didn’t want to come home. They fell in love with it. … It’s rough country, people think you can go up there and build things — you can’t. The seasons are different. Wintertime gets very cold. In the springtime when I used to take people up there, we were walking through four feet of snow sometimes, so we had to hunt along the shore to get our geese.
We have to protect our land. We were given that task, a responsibility, to protect Mother Earth. We’ve seen enough destruction in our lands. I’m tired of seeing it. I talked to people at home and we will not let any other development happen in our territory. I know there’s ideas of what they call economic development planned for that area, but I can’t see it completely destroyed — the last of our fertile land.
Nelson Henderson, a Manitoba Hydro journeyman from Wabowden
This is where I learned everything. When you’re out here, you’re not alone. Even though you are alone, if you’re not with anybody, you’re not alone. It’s going to sound weird but I sit in the bush, I make a fire, have a coffee and I can talk to people. I hear people talking to me. I don’t know if it’s spirits or just in my head but it’s so relaxing, tranquil. I can hear my brother laughing.
Look at these little ones. That’s what this is about.
Read More: https://thenarwhal.ca/manitoba-kitaskeenan-cree-voices/