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This agreement represents
a radical departure from history. Historically, our
ability to be seriously involved in mainstream economic
development was denied to us. The Crees, as other
indigenous peoples in Canada, were systematically
excluded from economic development through policy and
practice. There was no acknowledgement of our social,
cultural and economic ties with the land. And
consequently there was no provision of the full range of
tools necessary to allow for our serious involvement in
the region’s economy.
Participating in the economic development of the
territory is not something we should feel fearful about
entering. If we do not become the masters of our own
house and develop the resources within our territory for
the benefit of our own people, then we can certainly
expect that the resources will be developed by others
with little benefit coming to the Cree Nation.
This is the challenge which is now before the Cree
Nation. Will we be responsible for charting the course
of our own future or will we be passive observers who
allow things to happen to them, and then complain about
it afterwards?
We are no longer victims and we can no longer play that
role. We now enter this new era not as victims of
historical injustice, but as the self-confident and
proud permanent residents of our territory who are ready
to fully realize the potential which the future holds
for us. Our future is truly in our own hands. We have
thrown off the yoke of colonialism and we should now be
setting our sights on genuine nation-building.
The challenge before is to steer our canoe in a river of
change in a way that will be of long term benefit to the
Cree Nation.
Taking up that challenge forces us to address the
question of what it is that defines who we are? We have
for a long time been hunters and trappers and we will
continue to do so. We will continue to maintain that
special relationship with the land. But does being Cree
mean being only a hunter and trapper?
Is it possible that being Cree might also be about
taking very seriously the values, the beliefs and the
philosophy that evolved from and developed out of the
traditional Cree way of life and the incorporation of
those values in everything we do today and in the
future. I would like to suggest to you that we, as Cree
people, are defined by our values and beliefs and by
what our ancestors have learned from the traditional
Cree way of life and passed them on to us.
Our way of life has never been a static one, fixed
forever in time to be exactly the same thing. There have
always been changes—there were many periods before
contact with Europeans when we were completely
independent, there were adjustments which our ancestors
made to accommodate the fur trade, and there were other
adjustments when the fur trade began to decrease in
importance—and we have continuously adapted ourselves to
make beneficial changes for our people. What has endured
is our values.
What are those values? What are those beliefs and
practices which make us Cree and which make us different
from other cultures?
We are above all a people with an intimate knowledge of
the land. We know how the land is capable of sustaining
us and we know how to sustain the land.
We are self-reliant as individuals. The experiences of
our ancestors in surviving in this environment has
required that we, as individuals, learn to patiently
rely on our own instincts and our own understanding of
things around us. It is ingrained in us to be very
careful and very keen observers. We notice the subtle
changes in our environment so that we can make sense of
them and make plans based on our understanding. If we
were not like this then we would not have survived and
thrived as we have.
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2, 3,
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