Caring for Eeyou Istchee
Protected Area Creation on Wemindji Cree Territory
In Caring for Eeyou Istchee, Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners reveal how protected area creation presents a powerful vehicle for Indigenous stewardship, biological conservation, and cultural heritage protection.
Description
How do Indigenous communities in Canada balance the development needs of a growing population with cultural commitments and responsibilities as stewards of their lands and waters? Caring for Eeyou Istchee recounts the extraordinary experience of the James Bay Cree community of Wemindji, Quebec, who partnered with a multi-disciplinary research team to protect a territory of great cultural significance in ways that respect community values and circumstances. By addressing fundamental questions such as what should be protected and how, Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners reveal how protected area creation presents a powerful vehicle for Indigenous stewardship, biological conservation, and cultural heritage protection.
Reviews
This book expertly details what nature bureaucrats call a “new protected area paradigm,” according to which lands are “governed by and with Indigenous people," promoting "respect for [their] knowledge, values, collective tenure, stewardship, ... and management of biodiversity" (p. xii).
- B. E. Johansen