Eeyou Istchee is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) of Quebec that is represented by the Grand Council of the Crees. On July 24, 2012, the Quebec government signed an accord with the Cree Nation that resulted in the abolition of the neighbouring municipality of and the creation of the new Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government, providing for the residents of neighbouring TE and Eeyou Istchee to jointly govern the territory formerly governed by the municipality of .
The total land area of Eeyou Istchee is , though the Grand Council of the Crees sees Eeyou Istchee as a much larger contiguous traditional territory and homeland of . see "Map 1.4" The total population of the area was 14,131 in 2006, according to the 2006 Canadian Census, and the largest municipality is the Cree village municipality of Chisasibi on the south bank of La Grande River near the northeast shore of James Bay.
Eeyou Istchee TE was created on November 30, 2007. Its territory had previously belonged to the TE of . While most of Eeyou Istchee is enclaved within TE, the Cree reserved land (TC) and Cree village municipality (VC) of Whapmagoostui lie north of the 55th parallel north and are enclaved within Kativik TE.
Together with the TEs of and Kativik, it forms the region and census division (CD) of .
Communities
Nord-du-Québec (Census division)
CensusCode Name Cree Name Type Population2011 Population2006 Totaldwellings Dwellingsusual res. LandArea 2499055 Chisasibi ᒋᓵᓰᐲ VC 0 0 0 0 491.63 2499814 Chisasibi ᒋᓵᓰᐲ TC 4484 3972 1050 923 828.18 2499045 Eastmain ᐄᔅᒣᐃᓐ VC 0 0 0 0 316.91 2499810 Eastmain ᐄᔅᒣᐃᓐ TC 767 650 226 188 147.47 2499030 Mistissini ᒥᔅᑎᓯᓃ VC 0 0 0 0 514.30 2499804 Mistissini ᒥᔅᑎᓯᓃ TC 3427 2897 952 845 865.76 2499040 Nemaska ᓀᒥᔅᑳᐤ VC 0 0 0 0 51.18 2499808 Nemaska ᓀᒥᔅᑳᐤ TC 712 642 226 200 96.57 2499820 Oujé-Bougoumou ᐆᒉᐳᑯᒨ VC 0 0 0 0 65.41 2499818 Oujé-Bougoumou ᐆᒉᐳᑯᒨ TC 725 606 251 183 2.54 2499035 Waskaganish ᐙᔅᑳᐦᐄᑲᓂᔥ VC 0 0 0 0 277.76 2499806 Waskaganish ᐙᔅᑳᐦᐄᑲᓂᔥ TC 2206 1864 496 467 505.37 2499010 Waswanipi ᐙᔂᓂᐲ VC 0 0 0 0 211.52 2499802 Waswanipi ᐙᔂᓂᐲ TC 1777 1473 513 413 415.64 2499050 Wemindji ᐐᒥᓂᒌ VC 0 0 0 0 171.06 2499812 Wemindji ᐐᒥᓂᒌ TC 1378 1215 377 333 377.95 2499070 Whapmagoostui ᐙᐱᒫᑯᔥᑐᐃ VC 0 0 0 0 122.53 2499816 Whapmagoostui ᐙᐱᒫᑯᔥᑐᐃ TC 874 812 221 206 189.88 Eeyou Istchee total TE 16350 14131 4312 3758 5586.25
The TE of Eeyou Istchee is governed by the Grand Council of the Crees by the Cree Nation Government. It consists of the following municipal units:
the Cree reserved lands listed above (with code = TC, terre réservée crie): the Cree village municipalities listed above (with code VC, municipalité de village cri)
Somewhat confusingly, the Commission de toponymie du Québec refers to the Cree reserved lands as "Cree villages" (village cri), as distinct from the "Cree village municipalities" (municipalité de village cri). However, from a practical point of view this makes sense, since the population resides in these reserved lands.
Definitions The above map indicates the Category I lands reserved for the Cree under the terms of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. Though formally designated as a TE for these areas in 2007, the term "Eeyou Istchee" has long been applied by Quebec Cree to refer to themselves and all their traditional hunting lands. In Category II lands, owned by the Crown-in-right-of-Quebec, hunting, fishing and trapping rights are reserved for the Cree, while forestry, mining and tourism development authority is shared. In Category III lands, some specific hunting and harvesting rights are reserved for the Cree, but all other rights are shared subject to a joint regulatory scheme. Roughly 14,000 km2 fall into Category I, 150,000 km2 in Category II, and 908,000 km2 - almost 60 percent all land in Quebec - are in Category III.
Notes
References
Sources Database of the geographical code of Quebec Regional maps of municipal and RCM/TE boundaries from the Ministère des Affaires municipales et des Régions. As of January 2008, the Nord-du-Québec map shows Jamésie territory as it was before the creation of Eeyou Istchee.
External links
Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) official website « Eeyou Istchee » : terres des Cris, Archives de Radio-Canada Eeyou Istchee Tourism site