Blockade in Kapuskasing comes down, talks continue

A blockade north of Kapuskasking, Ont. by a break away group of Moose Cree First Nation members has come down May 19.
The blockade was set up by a group calling themselves the Kapuskasking Cree, who have been asserting their ancestral rights by staging a peaceful blockade to hydroelectric projects on the Mattagami River north of Kapuskasing.
“We are doing a peaceful blockade just to let Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Moose Cree Nation know that what they are doing is wrong, and they are not consulting the proper people,” said Ernie Sutherland, spokesperson for the Kapuskasking Cree.
OPG and Moose Cree placed an injunction against the Kapuskasking Cree to remove the blockade and a court hearing was held May 19 in Timmins.
Moments prior to the hearing, lawyers representing both sides negotiated a deal.
Gaius Napash, who reresents the Kap Cree, said the deal has a clause that will bring Moose Cree and the Kapuskasing Cree together to continue talking about the idea of a separate reserve. Prior to the legal course of action, the descendents of the Napash and Sutherland families voiced their concerns about the lack of proper consultations.
Sutherland is one of many Aboriginals in the Kapuskasking area who object to the ratification of the Amisk-oo-skow Comprehensive Agreement between Moose Cree First Nation and Ontario Power Generation.
The agreement was approved by a vote of Moose Cree membership May 14, 2009.
According to the Moose Cree Resource Protection website, there were 2474 eligible voters. Only 634 votes were cast through pre-polls, out of town polls, mail in ballots, mobile voting and local polls. Of these votes, 69 per cent, or 439 votes, were in favour of the agreement.
Moose Cree Chief Norm Hardisty Jr. said it’s a comprehensive agreement in which the community hopes to benefit from during the project’s life.
“We are talking about a 50 year agreement that encompasses about over $400 million over those 50 years,” he said.
The agreement between OPG and Moose Cree allows the two sides to reconcile past grievances from harm caused to resources in the area by development and to provide the basis for a new relationship.
Provisions in the agreement call for an apology from OPG and that treaty rights be respected.
For the descendents of the Napash and Sutherland families who live in the Kapasukasing region, the group feels the agreement did not consider a grievance that began by their parents’ generation 40 years ago.
When the grievance was first introduced, Sutherland said Moose Factory offered to go help the Elders. As the issue dragged on, many of the Elders have since passed on.
“That is just like slapping our Elders in the face saying that they lived here and died in vain, and that is something we won’t let happen,” Sutherland said.
Sutherland said Moose Factory is 200 kilometers north of the disputed lands and there are about 160 Moose Cree members that are willing to join the Kapsuskasing Cree as soon as it becomes a separate reserve.
“We were born and raised here. Most of us have never been to Moose Factory.”
The Kapuskasking Cree corresponded with chief and council to voice their concerns.
Negotiations between the two parties broke off following a meeting held with the chief and council of Moose Cree on Dec 16 to discuss the Amisk-oo-skow Agreement.
Shortly thereafter, the Kapuskasking Cree informed chief and council of Moose Cree of their intention to separate from the larger administrative body of Moose Cree.
“We no longer want to be Moose Cree. We want to have our own reserve right here where we were born and raised, and they don’t want to let us go. The only reason they don’t want to let us go is because they are going to be losing all the resources,” Sutherland said.
The Kapuskasking Cree requested a band council resolution asserting the group’s desire to separate.
A letter written by Hardisty March 1 and sent to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada states: “The Moose Cree First Nation has never agreed to support any such division request.
“It is premature to say that all avenues to address political differences between the Moose Cree First Nation and some group of its membership in Kapuskasing have been tried and exhausted.”
On May 4, an around the clock blockade was set up by the Kapuskasking Cree.
“We did not permit OPG, Kiewit, and LUNA workers – we blockaded them and told them that nobody was permitted to go through our Indian lands,” Napash said.
Ted Gruetzner, manager of media relations at OPG, said work has slowed down since workers were not allowed access to the site because of the blockade.
The workers were hired to clear land where a camp for 800 workers is to be constructed.
“As a group they (Kap Cree) consider themselves to be a distinct band. We see it as an internal band issue that needs to be worked out with the band,” Gruetzner said. “Our position is that we will only consult with recognized First Nations and the recognized First Nation is the larger Moose Cree First Nation and the chief and council – that is our policy.”
Hardisty said the blockade was a disruption to the progress the community is making.
“We don’t encourage any type of activity – like a road blockade – that will compromise anything that we are trying to do.
It affects employment, and it affects the contracts. We have a mandate. It’s very clear,” he said.
In the meantime, the Kapuskasking Cree agreed to take down the blockade while negotiating with the Moose Cree.
“They (Moose Cree) have to talk to us about it,” Napash said, adding that the next step is mediated discussions led by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.