WE STAND ON THE GRAVES OF OUR ANCESTORS

253 Pages·2001·15.31 MB·English

KEENEBONANOH KEEMOSHOMINOOK KaESHE PEEMISHIKHIK ODASKIWAKH -
[WE STAND ON THE GRAVES OF OUR ANCESTORS]
NATIVE INTERPRETATIONS OF TREATY #9 WITH ATTAWAPISKAT ELDERS
A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies
in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Arts
in the Faculty of Arts and Science
TRENT UNIVERSITY
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
c Copyright by Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt 1997
Canadian Heritage and Development Studies M.A. Program
May 1998
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ABSTRACT
-
Keenebonanoh keemoshominook kaeshe peemishikhik odaskiwakh
[We Stand on the Graves of our Ancestors]
Native Interpretations of Treaty #9 with Attawapiskat Eldess
Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt
This thesis tries to rnake aware that in relations between
people from different cultures 'facts' cannot be interpreted as
such by merely referring to a set of values based in one of the
two societies. Instead, knowledge and understanding as
interpreted by Native societies have to be considered as well.
In regards to the interpretations of treaty #9, I present the
view of the Cree people of Attawapiskat, gathered in interviews
among elders, political leaders and professionals in the
community. Using the interpretations of the way of llfe by the
elders of the cornmunity as a bridge to the time when the treaty
was signed, this thesis explains why the people of Attawapiskat
understand that land was never given up with the signing of the
treaty, and that a surrender of land could not have happened due
to the people's relations to the land that was given to them by
Ki tche Mando.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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TRADITIONAL HUNTING AND TRAPPING AREAS
.........................
Attawapiskat-Winisk 1910
mxm
.............
The Problems with Indian Claims to their IJande
The Place of Aboriginal mowledge within the academic
....................................................
Context
-
Historical Context What was written about the Treaty
..............
and how it was perceived
........................... ... .........
Historical Background
.........
Involving the Province - The Struggle for Terms....
...........................
Treaty 'Negotiations* in 1905/06
The Treaty Text
............
The James Bay Treaty - Treaty #9 (1905/06)
.......................
Adhesion to Treaty #9 (1929/30)
........................
Why did the Government seek Treaty?
..............
What the Natives wanted by signing the Treaty
.....................
How Treaties are interpreted by Courts
.................
What the Treaty means to me - A Conclusion
-
The modern political Basis How Native political
Organizatfons of the Treaty #9 Region interpret the Treaty
..................................
The Nishnawbe Aski Nation 61
.......................
Spirit and Intent of the Treaty 61
Land under Water -
.................
A legal Case about a forgotten Clause 68
.................... . ...............
The Mushkegowuk Council 70
How the Treaty is seen - Spirit and Intent ............ 71
....
Government Relations - Aboriginal Title and Rights 77
-
Field Research in Attawapiskat
Developing Reaearch Questions and finding a Method
.....................
to research in a Native Community 81
- ......
Books and Archives How the Thesis Project developed 82
-
A joint Venture Finding Research Questions, struggling
with the holistic Approach, and combining several
Projects in one . e . . . . . . . . . C . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
The Conflict - How to approach Elders in an academic
mannar that does not interfere with their cultural
............................
Understanding of Behaviour 91
-
The Words of the People
Analysis of the collected Data and anewering the
....................................
Reeearch Questions 96
- ..
Relations to the Land What does Land mean to our Lives? 97
.....................................
Freedom and Peace 98
.....................................-...
Spirituality 99
.............................................
Health 103
........................................
Responsibility 106
........................
Harmony, Values, and Relations 108
iii
Land Use . What do we get from the Land. how did we live.
....................................
where did we live? 115
Concepts of Land Ownership . Who owns the Land. can Land
.........................
be owned. can it be given up? 125
Motives for living on reserve . What did we expect from
...........................................
the treaty? 136
The Role of the Government in Relations with Native People .
........................
Can the Government control us? 145
Spirit and Intent
..............
The literai Interpretation of the Treaty 155
...................
The Spirit and Intent of the Treaty 157
...........
The Indians' Understanding of Terms and Concepts 158
..............
Land. Land Use. Land Ownership. and 'The Law' 158
.............................,...........
Benefits for what? 161
.........
Who owns the Land in the Attawapiskat River Basin? 162
............................................
Primary Sources 164
..........................................
Secondary Sources 165
Elders
........
Questionnaires (Interviews with Interview Schedule) 169
........................................
Intenriews on Video 205
Profesaionals and other Community Meabers
........................................
Interviews on Video 219

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Setting the Stage
The Problams with Indian Claims
to their Lands.
During the years at University, having taken Native Studies,
1 always came across discussions about land claims of Indian
people who were not covered by a treaty. Negotiations with the
Indians were started by the government only when the Natives had
signed or agreed to the clause of ceding and surrendering their
lands to the governrnent. Being a traditional Native person from
Northern Ontario, 1 always shivered hearing these words of
surrendering lands, which, in my opinion, was not possible.
The other concept that 1 could not relate to was that the
government owned the land, or that we had to ask the government
for land to live on, which, of course, was the reality on our
reserves. Hearing about land claims, 1 saw the chance to maybe
get the fndian point of view over in this issue, however, for our
people, the Cree of James Bay (on the Ontario side), the
possibility of claiming or reclairning anything seemed vexy small,
because, as it was pointed out, we had signed a treaty, treaty
#9, and by the treaty signing our people had surrendered the land
to the government. This was pointed out to me, and the fact that
the Indians were just whining to get more out of the government.
The r~iationsw e had to the government were always interpreted in
a way that we just were the takers and the government were the
givers. This is, by the way, also the widespread opinion among
my non-Native fellow countrywomen and men, as we do not pay taxes
etc. The claim that we were 'whiners' could also easily be
underlined by the facts, legally and scientifically, that there
was indeed a treaty signed, and that we, for giving up our lands,
did receive so many benefits, among them the one that actually
brought me to post-secondary education, namely my free university
education, 'freel here used as free of charge. And the treaty is
a fact. There is no doubt about it, as well as the 'benefitsl
that came with it.
in this regards, it was also referred to me that we could
not have it both ways, getting the benefits that came with giving
up our lands, and then coming along and 'pretending, that the
land was indeed never given up.
That this whole thing was a legal matter became obvious once
1 followed reports on T.V. on land claims, and claims by Indians
in general, because there were always lawyers involved. Indians
who tried to claim lands and their Nationhood were referring to
'laws', like the one called the Royal Proclamation, and for
matters concerning Indian claims, court decisions were quoted
etc. It is indeed a very complicated matter, and there are
always the 'factsf, something that is written dom, like in a
treaty, and the Ifact' that there are signatures on it.
Naturally, when you get these facts presented al1 the time, you
start to believe them. The only possibility for Native people
was in the interpretation of these facts, or in finding some
legal h o p holes. The latter was my first thought when 1 started
to think about the treaty.
There were, however, other things that finally made me