James Bay Hydro Project Effect

Throughout the course we have talked about multiple accounts how large corporations have misused indigenous land. Whether through pollution, or by completely destroying their it. In my opinion northern Canada has always been seen as this vast, quiet, and bountiful area. Unfortunately big companies; such as Hydro Quebec, decided that this was where the money was. The James Bay Hydro Project was such a huge, expensive and destructive operation that it completely changed the landscape of northern Canada. The James Bay Hydro Project was a multi-phased project brought to the area by Hydro Quebec. The whole process started in 1971 when Hydro-Quebec and the Quebec government initiated the project. Over the course of two phases they built a total
A rash of suicides among young people went largely unnoticed by the outside world, but those who remember this time remain deeply affected. Parties lasting from several days to a week became the social vehicles for binge drinking that wreaked havoc on the health of individuals and the stability of families” (p. 512). This is only one of the instances of the impact the James Bay Project caused first nation families, and their subsequent generations. Since the indigenous community depend so largely on nature; such as the forests, rivers, lakes, trees, animals, birds and fish, it is not easy to separate social from environmental impacts. For example, Bone touches on how the destruction of a wetland habitat on which moose and beaver depend can have a devastating social impact on those who depend them for food.
In the Cree villages this includes almost everyone. All community members hunt after work, weekends or during holidays. They hunt not simply for recreation, they depend on moose and beaver and fish for food (p.
They knew that it had been the home for thousands of years of the Cree Indians. Negotiations were then undertaken to arrive at a final treaty between the native people and governments and Hydro Quebec, to allow the project to proceed unhindered by future legal battles. In November 1975, the ‘James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement’ was signed. This somewhat ‘settled’ the Native Cree's land claim for the area, leaving them with areas of land for their own use and a payment of $167 million. With the large influx of southerners and southern ways, their old way of life was changed. This brought alcoholism and all of the other related problems onto their reserves. They experienced an abundance of social problems brought on by the southerners, such as alcohol and drug abuse, prostitution, family violence, and more which continue today. After visiting reserves this past summer I can attest that these issues are still very present today. The government had almost hoped that they would have adapted to the changes, but in reality they just abolished their way of