The youth of Waswanipi are calling fora public inquiry to allow the community to discuss clear-cutting.
The call comes in a letter from Waswanipi youth councillor Sam Gull sent to Chief John Kitchen and the Band Council. “Our land is being raped without our knowledge and consent” Gull told The Nation.
Gull said an inquiry would allow residents to discuss a plan for a sawmill proposed by Mishtuk, a forestry company owned by Waswanipi. Other possible topics: compensation deals with trappers and effects of forestry on the Cree way of life.
Chief Kitchen was attending a meeting of the Grand Council board in Montreal when we reached him for comment, and hadn’t yet seen a copy of the letter.
But he said Waswanipi residents have already had a lot of opportunity to discuss the sawmill and get details on Mishtuk’s plan. “We’ve been having consultations for years,” he said. “Everybody’s invited, the Elders, middle aged people, trappers. Most of the time, our youth are not there.”
The band holds four annual general assemblies every year, he added—more than any other Cree community.
Chief Kitchen said the sawmill is critical if Waswanipi’s high level of unemployment is to be reduced, especially among youth. “It’s for them. It’s not for me. They need jobs,” he said. “Most of the unemployed are the youth.”
The Chief said the $5.2-million deal on the mill should be inked with ^_ Domtar by January and construction is to start by May or June.
The Chief also said he is insisting that Domtar accepts an environmental assessment process on the project.
But for the sawmill to succeed, Mishtuk must increase its cutting of trees on Cree lands. Gull said the disappearing forests, not just jobs, are on the minds of the youth.
“It’s killing off our culture. In order for us to survive as a people, we need to protect our wildlife and our land,” he said.
“Are we going to have any land left for our children? Are we just going to be talking about the Cree way of life or are we going to be practicing it?”
The call for an inquiry was supported by Paul Dixon, the Local CTA Fur Officer.
“A lot of people think this has gone on too long with only one group of people really heard,” he said. “Where is this goingto lead us?”
Dixon said most trappers feel they haven’t been consulted adequately on the sawmill plan. “Real trappers would never agree to a sawmill because they know where they are from,” he said.
If Domtar does come to Waswanipi in the end, Dixon said the company needs some definite rules. “If Domtar were to come we would want them to agree to our rules on how they would take trees out of the traplines,” said Dixon, 92 percent of whose family’s trapline has already been clear-cut by loggers.
“The foremost condition that the real hunters and trappers would insist on is an environmental assessment process on forestry,” he said.
