[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
dam-l Quakers support Manitoba Cree's struggle
To: "Aboriginal Rights Coalition" <arc@istar.ca>
From: Will Braun
Date: 3/10/2000 10:17:16 AM
Subj: Quakers support Manitoba Cree's struggle
Quakers support Manitoba Cree's struggle:
Hydro development destroys way of life
Quaker Concern (Quarterly newsletter of the Canadian Friends Service Committee)
Spring 2000
By Jennifer Preston Howe
"Our people are grieving. They are grieving for the land, and a way of life that
was brought to an abrupt halt."
Bobby Brightnose, Pimicikamak Cree Nation
In August 1999 the annual sessions of Canadian Yearly Meeting (CYM) of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The
Quaker Aboriginal Affairs Committee, a standing committee of Canadian Friends
Service Committee, resented a program featuring speakers from the Pimicikamak
Cree of Cross Lake, Manitoba. They spoke about the devastation that has
occurred in their community as a result of a hydro-electric project on the
Nelson River, undertaken in the 1970s. The land water levels have been altered
to such an extent that the Cree can no longer live off the land. In 1977 five
Cree communities, including Cross Lake, signed the Northern Flood Agreement
(NFA) with Manitoba Hydro and the provincial and federal governments. The NFA
was to ensure retribution for the loss of their homeland.
As we enter the year 2000 the community of Cross Lake continues to push for
implementation of the NFA. With QAACs assistance, CYM sent letters to Manitoba
Hydro and both levels of government voicing our concern that justice be done for
the Pimicikamak Cree. We have received responses to the original correspondence
and are continuing the dialogue. Quakers in Minnesota have been educating their
fellow Americans (including politicians) about the costs of cheap hydro imported
from Canada and are urging politicians not to buy hydro from Manitoba.
[Photo with caption: Will Braun (pictured) of Mennonite Central Committee, says
"Shoreline devastation is caused by flooding and unnatural water fluctuations
resulting from the hydro-electric project. Shorelines are not expected to
restabilise for 200 to 300 years.]
Sidebar
Effects on Pimicikamak Cree
- Destruction of the ecosystem
- Destruction of traditional way of life and economy
- Suicide Epidemic
- Unemployment -- 85%
1977 Northern Flood Agreement
- Replacement land to be provided
- Economic development to assure "the future viability of the communities"
- Provisions for adverse effects of development for the "lifetime of the
project"
June 1999 Inter-Church Inquiry
- Five days of hearings
- More than 50 presentations, including Government and Manitoba Hydro
- "the situation of northern hydro-electric development as an ecological and
moral catastrophe for northern Manitoba and its indigenous peoples"
- NFA has not provided fair and equitable treatment, particularly to Cross Lake
end
Reprinted with permission.
Information distributed by:
________________________
Will Braun
Mennonite Central Committee
134 Plaza Dr.
Winnipeg MB R3T 5K9
Canada
ph (204) 261-6381
fx (204) 269-9875
wjb@mennonitecc.ca
www.mccm.mb.ca
For further information, or to be removed from this distribution list, please
contact the above.