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Poster description: Creating A Culturally Appropriate Protected Area in Paakumshumwaau |
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Poster description: Welcome to Paakumshumwaau
The Old Factory estuary and marine area is bountiful in ecological and cultural riches. The James Bay Cree, whose ancestors have inhabited this area for thousands of years, call it Paakumshumwaau. Their culture has been shaped in relation to the land on which they reside. They have learned to manage their resources sustainably, with a great sense of spiritual connection to the land. Read more... |
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Poster description: Our Project
Paakumshumwaau has remained largely untouched by the hydroelectric development, commercial forestry and mining activities that have affected other estuaries of similar and larger sizes in eastern James Bay. To Conserve the cultural and ecological richness of Paakumshumwaau and protect it from these development threats, the community of Wemindji has joined researchers from four universities across Canada in a project to create a culturally appropriate protected area. Read more... |
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Poster description: Ecological Abundance
A place of great beauty, Paakumshumwaau abounds in both floral and faunal diversity. From the headwaters of the river to the coast of James Bay, there is a great variety of microhabitats: boggy lowlands, spruce forests, grasslands and salt marches. Many animal species make their homes in these habitats including moose, beaver, bear and many species of fish and fowl. Read more... |
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Poster description: Cree Culture
The most important value in Cree culture is respect. This value guides the Cree people in all of their relationships; which their community members, the animals they hunt and the land on which they live. Read more... |
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Poster description: Cree Resource Management
Wemindji's community territory is divided into extended family hunting territories. Each has a hunting leader and resource steward, called uuchimaau (plural, uuchimaauch). The uuchimaauch oversee the hunting activities in their territory, ensuring that the hunt is conducted in accordance with the population dynamics of the animals living there. They know the characteristics of their territories and pass on this knowledge to their children who will eventually inherit the territory and it's stewardship. Read more... |
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Poster description: Innovative Research
Building a protected area in Paakumshumwaau requires many hands. It requires the input of social and natural scientists. It requires co-operation with and support from governing authorities, including the Grand Council of the Crees' (Eeyou Istchee) regional government as well as the provincial and federal governments. But, above all else, it depends on the expertise of the Wemindji community members. Read more... |
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Poster description: Change in Paakumshumwaau
Change has been a rejuvenating force in Paakumshumwaau. The Cree have always adjusted to changes in their society, land and waters. Recently, the pace of change has increased. The fur traders brought new economic ties to Europe, the Christian missionaries brought a new religion and the government of Canada brought new regulations. In 1971, the government of Quebec opened an era of industrial development activities from constraining natural and cultural symbolic change into the future. Read more... |
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Poster description: As we paddle onward
The project to create a culturally appropriate protected area in Paakumshumwaau is about protecting diversity - the ecological diversity of the Old Factory River, estuary and coastal seascapes as well as the cultural diversity that enables Crees' resources management to continue. The Wemindji Cree community has struck a balance between the human and non-human parts of the Paakumshumwaau environment. Read more... |
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Poster description: Credits
For more information:
Contact:
Colin Scott, Project Drector
Katherine Scott, Project Admnistrator
McGill University
New Chancellor Day Hall, Rm 322
3644 Peel, Montreal, H3A 1W9 |
