a brief history

Tataskweyak Cree Nation comprises more than 2,600 Cree people. Our people are the traditional inhabitants of a territory situated in north-central Manitoba, Canada. Two mighty rivers flow through our tribal homeland, the Churchill River and the Nelson River. From time immemorial we have lived here - an organized society that hunted, fished, trapped and harvested, governing ourselves according to our own laws, customs, and beliefs. We lived in harmony with nature, respecting the natural rhythm of the seasons and the habits of the wildlife. We were sustained by the rich boreal forest fed by the rivers, and the bountiful Hudson Bay lowlands and coastline. Our people were completely self-reliant and selfsustaining.

The history of Tataskweyak Cree Nation can be divided into four time periods or eras:

• pre-contact - before the white man
• the fur trade and the creation of Rupert's Land, the Hudson's Bay Company and other fur companies (1600-1870)
• the Treaties and the attempt to colonize the Cree (1870-1939)
• the impact of changing national policies and the changing economy of northern Manitoba (1939-2001)

During this last time period, the most significant change is the massive northern Manitoba Hydro Project, beginning with the construction of the Kelsey Generating Station in 1956, and continuing with the Churchill River Diversion and Lake Winnipeg Regulation from 1956 up to the present time (2001).

Beginning with first contact, Tataskweyak Cree have been able to adapt and to cope with outside change, within the context of their basic cultural and spiritual values and beliefs. Tataskweyak Cree believe, very strongly, that these basic cultural and spiritual values have helped them to survive as a strong, viable, and adaptable people. Tataskweyak Cree believe that these same cultural and spiritual values will help guide them to adapt and survive the recent and most devastating impacts on their physical, cultural, and spiritual environment, since contact with the white man.

Tataskweyak Cree history throughout the better part of the last century - a history shared by all First Nation peoples in Canada - is a sad story of dispossession, neglect, poverty and underdevelopment at the hands of governments and outsiders. Governments forced us, a people who had always lived throughout our vast traditional territory, into a static and alien existence on a Reserve, nearly eradicating our culture. Hydro-electric development permanently changed our lands and waterways. We, the original inhabitants, the stewards of the land and its resources, were left isolated and marginalized as most or all of the economic benefits of the region flowed to others.

The resilience of our people through
the many changes has been
remarkable. With the establishment of
provincial traplines in the 1940's,
traditional pursuits began to change.
In the 1950's, Split Lake became a
more permanent community as
women and children came off the
traplines to live in houses closer to the
local school. Diesel generators
provided our people with 15-amp
electrical service for the first time in
the 1960's, when a new school was
also built. In the 1970's, telephone
and 60-amp hydro-electric services

were first introduced and the Provincial road was built, connecting Split Lake with the rest of the country. By 1956, Manitoba Hydro began construction of a generating station at Kelsey on the Nelson River in the south of our Resource Area. The era of hydro-electric development that would dramatically change the lives of Split Lake Cree had begun.
(See Figure 1 which indicates hydro projects in the Split Lake Resource Management Area).

The 1970's was a decade of even more major social and environmental change, as the Lake Winnipeg Regulation and Churchill River Diversion projects began to operate. These projects came into combined flow in Split Lake, and forever altered the levels and flows on affected lakes and rivers. The adverse effects caused by this development were beyond the worst fears of our people. The Nelson River pattern of higher flows in the spring and summer with declining and low flows in the fall and winter, dictated by Mother Nature, was reversed. Flooding of our lands occurred. Our local environment was fundamentally and permanently

Figure 1: Hydro Projects in the Split Lake Resource Management Area

disrupted. There was damage to property and loss of homes. Wildlife patterns and habits we knew and depended upon changed. Hydro development was the final step in removing forever our opportunity to fully support and sustain ourselves in our traditional ways.

Our Elders and today's leaders retain vivid recollections of the time, over twenty years ago, when the Northern Flood Agreement (NFA) was signed in 1977. The NFA was an agreement among Manitoba Hydro, the governments of Manitoba and Canada, and the Members of the five Cree Nations affected by the hydro developments: Split Lake (Tataskweyak), Nelson House (Nisichawayasihk), Cross Lake (Pimicikamak), Norway House (Kinasao Sipi) and York Factory (Kitche-Waskahigan).

The NFA provided for land in exchange for the Reserve lands required to build the project, compensation for any adverse effects caused by hydro-electric developments in our territory, recognition of our resource management authority, and community development support. Much as we mourned the environmental damage and resulting permanent change, our people were at last recognized as having rights to the land we had inhabited for countless generations.

The NFA proved a difficult agreement to implement, largely because of a lack of understanding by outsiders of the enormous adjustments and damages imposed on our people. This was further compounded by differences of opinion over many of its terms. For many years, little positive action was taken toward implementing the Agreement. Claims were filed with the NFA Arbitrator to force governments and Hydro to live up to their commitments.

In the mid-1980's, the five NFA First Nations proposed to Canada, Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro an alternative, comprehensive approach to the challenge of implementation. In 1989, negotiations to implement the NFA on a global basis began in earnest.

The global negotiations were long, complex and difficult. In August 1990, when a comprehensive implementation package had been negotiated, the other four NFA First Nations decided to take another path. After more than fifteen years of a piecemeal, legal claim approach, Tataskweyak Cree Nation decided that we had waited long enough. We wanted to put an end to this painful chapter in our lives. We were determined to obtain an NFA implementation framework in time to benefit our Elders, and build a better future for our children. We exercised our rights under the NFA, and decided to accept the comprehensive implementation offer that had been negotiated with governments and Hydro.

Following an enormous effort on the part of our Elders, Members, and Chief and Council, a comprehensive NFA Implementation Agreement was finally reached in 1992 among Tataskweyak Cree Nation, Canada, Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro. The terms of practically realizing the NFA commitments had been worked out by negotiated agreement. Greatly increased compensation lands, recognition of the Split Lake Resource Management Area including joint resource management arrangements, environmental monitoring, fair compensation for adverse effects, community and economic development support, financial accountability provisions, all-Party implementation structures, and recognition of continuing NFA protections were won. Fundamentally, continuing implementation is now within our control.

Our people voted with a 93% majority to ratify the 1992 Agreement. At the signing ceremony, then Chief Norman Flett said

"This is a historic day for the Split Lake Cree First Nation. Over the years, we doubted and wondered if we would receive justice but we have persisted in negotiations and trusted in the honour of the other parties. Today we see our faith was not misplaced. The land and other compensation that we have received under this settlement are the future for our children and our Nation. It will be invested wisely and tended to carefully, for the benefit of the generations of Split Lake Cree yet to come. Today we celebrate not only our future but the future of our Nation."

Significantly, three of the four remaining First Nations have since negotiated their own NFA implementation agreements, including York Factory, Nelson House, and Norway House. Upon York Factory signing its agreement in 1995, then Chief Eric Saunders said:

"We've waited 18 long years for this day. Our negotiators have worked very hard, our people have been part of this process since it began. What we have here today strongly reflects our people's vision for the future."

When Nelson House reached its agreement in 1996, Chief Jerry Primrose noted:

"Today one chapter in our community's history closes and another one opens. With this agreement - and we strongly believe it's a good one - we can start building for the future."

Norway House reached its agreement in 1997. Chief Ron Evans explained:

"This agreement makes many things possible for our community. The land and compensation is a good start on the better future we can make for all our people."

The past ten years have been a time of re-building our
community, marshalling our forces and
planning for a sustainable future.
Tataskweyak Cree have invested in
many new homes, a modern
water and sewer system, a
new school, better roads and
recreational facilities. We
have created Ininew and
Split Lake Construction Group
to participate in the
construction business. Our
governance structure is rapidly
evolving. We have launched a
comprehensive employment and training
program for many unemployed Members.

With the protracted negotiations of the 1992 Agreement behind us, Tataskweyak Cree Nation is on a path of renewal. Until the 1992 Agreement, experiences with outsiders too often brought bad fortune rather than good. Our Elders have advised us, however, that the past is the past and cannot be changed. Today, our focus is on the future of our children and our children's children- on re-creating a basis to sustain ourselves within our traditional lands, consistent with our cultural beliefs.

Significant for the contemporary reality of Tataskweyak Cree Nation is the provision in the 1992 Agreement to look at future hydro-electric development at Keeyask Rapids on the Nelson River (see Figure 2). From 1992 to 1996, Tataskweyak Cree and Manitoba

Figure 2. Location of Proposed Hydro Project at Keeyask Rapids

Hydro held discussions and undertook studies about the impacts of past developments. In 1998, Chief and Council began formal discussions with Manitoba Hydro to explore the possibilities of a joint business relationship for a potential hydro-electric development at Keeyask Rapids. Members of the Tataskweyak Cree Nation guided Chief and Council and the Keeyask Planning Committee at every stage of this process. Our concerns and issues were identified, and after bringing these to the negotiating table, an Agreement in Principle with Manitoba Hydro was reached. The Agreement in Principle lays out a comprehensive framework for the potential development of the the Keeyask project. It recognizes Tataskweyak Cree Nation's interests in the lands, waterways, and resources of our Resource Management Area, including our concerns about the hydrological operation of the project, potential adverse effects, environmental review arrangements, our vision of

future economic development
including training and
employment, potential business
arrangements and ownership
with a Cree equity partnership. It
also includes arrangements for
joint decision making and
participation that recognize
Tataskweyak Cree Nation as a
direct beneficiary of the
potential development.

In late September 2000,
members voted to approve the
Agreement in Principle as a way
of building a sustainable path of

development for Tataskweyak Cree. The Agreement in Principle is not legally binding. It is not, as many have criticized, a "done deal." Rather, it sets out a path of understanding to proceed with discussions with Manitoba Hydro, with respect to a potential development, in a climate of trust and mutual respect. Any proposed development in our Resource Management Area must honour and consider Tataskweyak Cree's reverence and appreciation for our traditional homeland, and would be subject to the stringent environmental reviews now required by provincial and federal legislation. In addition, Tataskweyak Cree Nation will only approve those developments that meet our long term objectives for sustainability within our traditional territory.

an overview

Tataskweyak Cree Nation has three principal reserves located around Split Lake in northern Manitoba. We live more than 500 miles north of Winnipeg, northeast of Thompson on Provincial Highway #280. After the 1992 NFA Implementation Agreement, the Tataskweyak Cree land base includes more than 50,000 acres throughout the Split Lake Resource Management Area. The Split Lake Resource Management Area, comprising more than 16,000 square miles, was formally recognized in the 1992 Agreement by the provincial and federal governments to be managed for the shared use of our people and outsiders. This Resource Management Area, roughly corresponding with the traditional hunting grounds of Tataskweyak Cree, represents over 6% of Manitoba's land area.

Within our Resource Management Area on the Nelson River are four hydro generating stations, two converter stations, transmission and distribution facilities, and related infrastructure (see Figure 3). The generating stations within our Resource Management Area, which date from 1957, today generate over 75% of the power Manitoba Hydro produces (see Figure 4). While most of this power is used in Manitoba, a substantial export trade exists with the northern states through the Mid-Continent Area Power Pool Region.

Our Resource Management Area is co-managed by Tataskweyak Cree and Manitoba under a joint resource management regime established in the 1992 Agreement. We have used, managed, conserved, sustained, and been sustained by, the water and lands of our territory and the creatures that live there for thousands of years according to the traditional values of our Cree way of life. As the original stewards and recently recognized managers of this land, we naturally oppose inappropriate exploitation of her resources. We will only approve those future developments that respect the harmony and balance of our ecosystem.

Our lands, waterways and way of life have been greatly altered by colonial and industrial developments. The impacts are permanent and irreversible. But we understand that to sustain ourselves we must find new, alternative ways to use our resources responsibly in the future.

Figure 3: Importance of Tataskweyak Cree in Hydro-Electric Power Production

Figure 4: Manitoba Operating Capacity - 5000MW

a vision for tomorrow

The viability of the future of Tataskweyak Cree Nation requires that we embark upon an appropriate and determined effort to be a self-sufficient community. The vision of Tataskweyak Cree is to be a self-governing First Nation within Canada, securing sufficient social, economic, and cultural benefits to sustain our people. We will realize our vision through the shared use of resources within the Split Lake Resource Management Area according to a long-term regional economic development strategy. This strategy is based on sustaining the natural environment through careful management, with an understanding of the inter-relatedness of all things. To accomplish this, we will only consider responsible development projects in resource sectors such as forestry, mining, tourism and hydroelectric power. Our ecosystem model, as depicted in Figure 5, expresses the articulation of Cree values within the global environmental context.

Currently, Tataskweyak Cree Nation is examining innovative and creative ways of pursuing opportunities within our Resource Management Area. We do so from the perspective of long-term viability, consistent with our vision. We are faced with both the opportunities and the challenges to develop ways of using the resources in harmony with the natural and the built environment. We are determined that any technological and industrial development in our territory must contribute to the economic growth of our First Nation, while developing local skills and capacities. Toward this end, we believe we can negotiate mutually agreeable terms with outside developers and governments without compromising our unique and vital culture. Ours is a culture of change and transformation. The recently signed Agreement in Principle for the potential Keeyask development on the Nelson River reflects our aspirations for sustainability in our Resource Management Area.

Figure 5: Tataskweyak Cree Ecosystem Model

A formal signing ceremony between Manitoba Hydro, and Tataskweyak Cree was held at Split Lake on October 17, 2000 to recognize the historic nature of this Agreement. Manitoba attended the ceremony and demonstrated its support of the Agreement in Principle. At the signing ceremony, Chief Duke Beardy of Tataskweyak Cree Nation noted:

At the signing ceremony in Split Lake, Premier Gary Doer of Manitoba noted that,

"We believe that we must go beyond the construction jobs and training of the past. We recognize that those are very important, for our youth of the future, for our community of the future. But we also believe the great advantages of hydro development, the advantages to the Manitoba consumer to have the lowest hydro electric rates in the world - the advantages for our customers, that we give predictable, clean sources of energy that must be balanced into the next century with economic equity and economic opportunity for the communities adjacent to the areas in which the developments take place. And that is why I am pleased that we along with Hydro are signing this AIP today to recognize that this is only the first step along the way of development."

Since signing the Agreement in Principle, Tataskweyak Cree have begun to carefully and cautiously investigate all of the opportunities and problems of being a co-owner in a potential joint business development with Manitoba Hydro. We have clearly defined objectives, including environmental stewardship, shared financial benefits, job targets, and business development opportunities. We are also discussing with our three sister Cree Nations their possible participation in co-owning the Keeyask project with us. Discussions with Manitoba Hydro are proceeding according to a mutually agreed-upon set of terms. No development will take place before Tataskweyak Cree Members have an opportunity to thoroughly investigate and consider all of the issues. A referendum in the community will be held to determine the will of the Members, after a joint business development agreement is negotiated. Development will only proceed if Tataskweyak Cree Members give Chief and Council the authority to proceed.

a strong voice

We, the Tataskweyak Cree Nation, are committed to providing our youth with greater opportunities, while maintaining our cultural integrity. Our ability to construct a viable culture and community depends on the creation of opportunities for our young people, making it possible for them to succeed in our traditional territory and elsewhere. The viability of our culture depends on the adaptation to, and accommodation of, change within the shared contexts of Cree values and the global economy. We have embarked on this journey with the full force of our Members' approval. We intend to continue to explore the opportunities and alliances that will push forward our progress. In true democratic spirit, all of our Members are involved in the decision-making process.

We are united in the choices we make. Responsible utilization of our natural resources is the path we have decided to take. Split Lake Cree Elder William Beardy's comments reflect the feelings of our people:

"The lands, the waters and the resources have provided for us in the past. We can't exercise our traditional pursuits as in the past because the waters have changed. Yet, these waters and their power could once again help to provide for our people."

Our reverence for the land, and our thorough traditional knowledge of the critical interrelationships of our ecosystems will ensure that we utilize Nature's bountiful resources within a tolerable level of environmental impact. Our ability to effectively move forward to capture opportunities and create new business relationships within our Resource Management Area has been challenged by others