Well, I would have thought the forestry case being suspended was the cat’s meow, so to speak.

Yet, the gathering of Cree politicians in Montreal this week showed that Cree values have changed, at least in the past 20 years or so. No longer for the Crees is it, as American author Wendell Berry says, “to cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.” At least this may be the message that some of the leadership is sending out in regards to new dams like EM I on Cree land (see News, page 5).

But, everything’s just talk and we have to be ready to move if the time is right, right? Never let it be said that the leadership isn’t prepared to launch the EM-1 hydro-electric project as Hydro-Quebec’s partner if the conditions favour the Crees. I can just hear the spin doctors leaping into action to defend the latest plans.

Perhaps it’s time Larry House and others, who hit the campaign trail in the U.S. to battle Hydro-Quebec’s Great Whale project, to start to tour the Cree communities telling of the plight of the Crees.

The mercury poisoning, the land lost forever, the encroachment on Cree land without consulting the Crees who lived on them, the health, social and environmental problems, the jobs guaranteed that never happened save for five, and the many, many promises that lie unfulfilled to this day.

Fortunately, the tour could be affordable since House and other Cree activists would have to visit only five communities. These five communities are the only ones who have any say it seems. The land doesn’t belong to all Crees any more, is the message. Once again the reply is, “Of course; these are only discussions, but still we must be prepared to move fast. Either for or against…”

Surely a few supporters in each community could be found to temporarily house and feed Cree activists while they spread the word about those traditional Cree values and respect for the land that survives to this day. I know we found many down south to help us out.

It seems even as Crees were winning battles in the South we were being flanked.

November 20, 1998

The battleground is now in our very homes and communities What shall happen to the environmental process?

The very Cree leadership that will sign an agreement has appointed the watchdogs, in effect giving a rubber stamp to any project.

I think what we need here is a Cree version of Greenpeace or the Sierra Club. A Cree lobbying group that translates into votes and action.

It is not that I am against building a dam per se, but that I want the people to have a strong voice in decisions affecting the land. In fact, the strongest possible. One where any Cree can join and work for the betterment of linnuuschii. This is an effective method that works within the system as was shown in the Cree/Hydro-Quebec Great Whale struggle.

I am not talking about creating an entity that would necessarily target Cree leadership but rather any organization, entity, business or persons that wish to affect changes to linuuschii. An organized group of Crees based on environmental principles which would lobby, research, document, protest, conduct public relations campaigns both on and away from linuuschii. Something that would contact local newspapers, radio and TV media in the same way we did in the States. Newspapers like La Sentinelle, LEcho and others. An organization that would promote Cree values and respect for the land to all whether they are Crees or non-Crees.

Its time has come. The duties of a chief may include other jobs that potentially place them in a conflict of interest when it comes to making an unbiased decision. It’s time to bring things into the open. Crees have always protected the land and have fought to have a say in its development. We all know this, but as German poet and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”

I would be willing to see, with others, how such an as-yet-unamed organization couldbe created so there would be a chapter in each community. Interested parties can callme at 514-272-3077.