Pimicikamak

Pimicikamak /pɪmᵻˈtʃɪkəmæk/ is the name^{[note 1]} of one of the Cree-speaking aboriginal peoples of Canada.^{[note 2]} Pimicikamak is "a people of rivers and lakes. The traditional territory of Pimicikamak is around Sipiwesk Lake in the heart of the boreal forest, five hundred kilometres north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Flowing through their land is Kichi Sipi, the Great River."^[1] Pimicikamak's traditional territory also is known as Pimicikamak.^{[note 3]}

Pimicikamak is related to but appears to be culturally and linguistically distinct from neighboring Swampy Cree and Rock or Rocky Cree peoples of the boreal forest.^[2] There is less than complete consensus about these and other such anthropological definitions that may have been confused by changing fashions in colonial naming.^{[note 4]} The existence of distinct peoples in Canada, though constitutionally entrenched,^[3] is controversial by reason of perceived implications for Quebec separatism.^[4] The identities and roles of aboriginal peoples in Canada continue to be clarified.^[5]

Names

Etymologically, pimicikamāk and related terms were understood as connoting "flowing across".^[6] This is widely presumed to be the origin of the name of Cross Lake in Pimicikamak territory.^{[note 5]} "Pimicikamak" is the collective singular name for the whole people^{[note 6]} and also the collective name for its traditional territory. Grouped as part of the closely related Rocky Cree, Pimicikamak refer to themselves as Nahathaway (nīhithawī)^[7] (those who speak our language) or ithiniwi (real people); they called themselves "Cree" only when speaking English or French.^[8] Canada's history of suppressing indigenous languages, including aboriginal peoples' use of their own names such as "Pimicikamak", was controversial until 2008, when Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly acknowledged and apologized for this policy.^[9] The name "Pimicikamak" appears to have entered into English-language usage by Cree-speakers in the 1990s. "The Pimicikamak Cree Nation" is a polyglot and imprecise description of Pimicikamak, not a name. It is also known in English as "the Cross Lake Band", a description that may be confused with the Cross Lake Band of Indians (now known as the "Cross Lake First Nation").^[10]

Traditional territory

Aboriginal concepts of territory are sui generis and do not correspond to those of Western cartography.^[11]

Pimicikamak's traditional territory is reported to have been the watershed^[12] of the upper Nelson River.^[13] It is located within the boreal forest or taiga of Canada. Like other indigenous peoples, Pimicikamak sees its spiritual relationship with the land as fundamental to its identity.^[14] Displacing indigenous spirituality through Christian missions was said to be "one of the most effective tools of assimilation" leading to "conformity within newly prescribed territorial limits."^[15] Canadian law continues to recognize relationships of aboriginal peoples with their traditional (c.f., treaty) territories.^[16]

History

Oral history passed down by Pimicikamak elders says that Pimicikamak existed since time immemorial. Anthropological and archaeological evidence places aboriginal occupation of Pimicikamak after the last ice age "sometime before 4000 B.C.E."^[17] European documentary records date back at least to 1768, when a map showed Pemichicomo Lake in the area known as Rupert's Land.^[18] In 1770, Thomas Hutchins included the Pemmichi-ke-mè-u people on a list of tribes trading into Hudson Bay.^[19] Famed explorer and geographer David Thompson overwintered on Sipiwesk Lake in 1792.^[20] Peter Fidler charted the upper Nelson River through Pimicikamak in 1809.^[21] Pimicikamak made treaty (Treaty 5) with the Crown in 1875. In 1977 it was party to an amendment^{[note 7]} to address effects of the Nelson River Hydroelectric Project operations on its Treaty 5 rights.

Constitution

Like other indigenous peoples in Turtle Island (the name for North America in many indigenous languages), Pimicikamak was constituted under spiritual law. These were passed down orally through stories and reflected in ceremonies and traditions of the Pimicikamak people. They formed part of the culture that enabled it to survive as a people in a harsh environment.^[22] Treaty 5, signed by the British Crown and by Tepastenam and two others on Pimicikamak's behalf in 1875, clearly were intended to and did amend this customary constitution. Pimicikamak is a body politic or corporate. In 1996, Pimicikamak enacted its First Written Law which began the adaptation of its constitution to modern circumstances.^[23] Since the 1990s Pimicikamak has made other written laws with constitutional effect in the English language, including a citizenship law and an election law. These are based on consensus.^[24] The government of Canada has doubted the validity of the First Written Law and written laws made pursuant to it but accepted the validity of one such law, The Pimicikamak Election Law, 1999, on other grounds.

The Winnipeg Treaty

In 1875, the Ministry of the Interior determined to extend the Crown's treaty relations to the peoples east and west but not north of Lake Winnipeg.^[25] In September 1875, with Privy Council authority, Treaty Commissioners Alexander Morris^[26] and James McKay embarked on the Hudson's Bay Company steamer to several destinations on Lake Winnipeg to make a treaty whose terms, boundaries and signatories were essentially predetermined.^[27] The York boat trade via the Hayes River and York Factory on Hudson Bay having collapsed in competition with trade via the Mississippi River, Indians living at Norway House "whose occupation was gone, owing to supplies being brought in by way of the Red River of the North, desired to migrate to the western shore of Lake Winnipeg ...".^[28] Morris tells that upon arriving at Norway House, "We found that there were two distinct bands of Indians, the Christian Indians of Norway House, and the Wood or Pagan Indians of Cross Lake." The latter were represented by Tepastenam. Pimicikamak evidently persuaded the Commissioners to include it in Treaty 5, signed on 24 September 1875.^[29] Treaty rights are collective, not individual. Under one interpretation of Canadian law, aboriginal peoples may have treaty rights, but these are vested with the entire not community and not the band council.^[30]

Other Treaties with the Crown

Pimicikamak and the government of Manitoba^[31] both regard a 16 December 1977 agreement^[32] with Canada and Manitoba Hydro^{[note 8]} as a modern-day treaty.^[33] Pimicikamak regards an 8 May 1998 document signed by representatives of Canada, Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro as a treaty. From the colonial perspective, some treaties with aboriginal peoples have been termed "a different method of expropriation".^[34]

Flag

Pimicikamak also has a national flag.^[35]

Laws

Like other indigenous peoples that have existed for a long time, Pimicikamak has a body of oral customary law.^[36] Since 1995, Pimicikamak has made several customary written laws.^{[note 9]}

Government

Although Pimicikamak has four councils,^[35] Pimicikamak government is, like that of Switzerland, inseparable from the people, with strong elements of direct democracy. Its First Written Law provides for modern customary laws in writing to be accepted by consensus of a general assembly of the Pimicikamak public.^[37] National policy is established by consensus of the Four Councils.^{[note 10]} The Executive Council^[38] is responsible for giving effect to national policy.^[39]

Traditional government

Oral history recorded by elders in the 1990s says that in traditional Pimicikamak government the people were warmed by four fires. These were Kiseyak Otabiwinik (where the Elders sit), Iskweyanak (the women), Opimbatawuk (the runners, or youth) and Okaniskoteyawuk (the hunters & warriors; lit., the keepers of the gate). The first two of these continued through the 20th century. The Council of Elders may have been based on Midewiwin society practices introduced hundreds of years ago from neighbouring Ojibwa (known to themselves as the Anishinaabeg). Oral history from the Elders provided the continuing source of Pimicikamak temporal or customary law. The Women's Council governed family and community life during winter dispersal and summer gatherings.

Women's Council

Historically, women appear to have had higher status in Cree societies than that accorded by contemporaneous European and some other aboriginal civilizations. "Cree women enjoyed a degree of autonomy that confounded European men who married Aboriginal women."^[40] "Crees viewed with contempt what they conceived as harsh treatment of women by Chipewyan males."^[41] In the Pimicikamak world view, women are symbolically associated with water, life, the direction west, and the color red.^[42] The Women's Council is viewed by some as first in precedence of the Pimicikamak councils.^{[note 11]} The reason given is that all members of the Councils received the gift of life from women, beginning the circle of life.^[43] Consistent with their historical status, the Women's Council has key roles^[44] in Pimicikamak government including control of elections^[45] and a veto over written laws.^[46]

Council of Elders

Traditionally, elders were viewed as the lawyers or law-givers of Pimicikamak. They were the repository of the wisdom that enabled the Pimicikamak people to survive. Consistent with the traditional role, the Council of Elders must approve written laws by consensus. In recent times the fallout of the residential school system may have imposed difficulty on this role.

Youth Council

The Youth Council took on constitutional responsibilities in the 1990s.^[47] It appears to be regarded as a traditional council.^[48]

Communities

The largest community in Pimicikamak is Cross Lake, now connected to the western part of its traditional territory by the Kichi Sipi Bridge. Thicket Portage, Pikwitonei and Wabowden are also largely Pimicikamak communities in the west and north of Pimicikamak traditional territory.^{[note 12]} Non-Pimicikamak Canadian residents have rights under Treaty 5.

Notes

1. the Anglicized version of its collective name.
2. It is also referred to erroneously as Pimicikamak Cree Nation.
3. Used in this sense it connotes the rocks, trees, animals, water, humans, etc. as distinct from a purely geographic meaning.
4. For example, James Smith, in Handbook of North American Indians, says "[I]t was apparent merely that the name Cree that was [in the late 18th century] extended westward to apply to these divisions, previously known by generic terms...".
5. Note that there was another Cross Lake, now flooded, that was upstream of Grand Rapids, Manitoba, on the Saskatchewan River.
6. The singular noun is Pimicikamowinew; its plural is Pimicikamowinewuk.
7. An agreement with Canada, Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro dated December 16, 1977, informally known as the Northern Flood Agreement.
8. Known colloquially as the Northern Flood Agreement.
9. They are in English, with the apparent objective that they be understood by non-Cree-speakers.
10. The Four Councils is a single entity composed of the membership of each of the four councils.
11. Pimicikamak as a society seems in another sense to deny the idea of precedence.
12. Many of their residents are descended from those Pimicikamak who did not take up residence at Cross Lake after 1875.

References

1. John Miswagon, "A Government of our Own", Frontier Centre for Public Policy, 21 April 2005, http://www.fcpp.org/main/publication_detail.php?PubID=1043, accessed 24 September 2008.
2. About whom see: James G.E. Smith, "Western Woods Cree" in Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 6, June Helm, ed., Smithsonian Institution, Washington (1981), p. 256: "Western Woods Cree ... encompasses ... the Rocky Cree, the Western Swampy Cree, and Strongwoods or Bois Fort Cree."
3. See: Constitution Act, 1982, s. 35, Schedule B to the Canada Act, 1982 (U.K.) c. 11.
4. See, e.g.: Lucien Bouchard, A Visage Découvert, Lés Editions du Boréal, Montréal (1992); and see: Reference Re Quebec Secession, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217 (Can.).
5. John Borrows, "Uncertain Citizens: Aboriginal Peoples and the Supreme Court", (2001) 80 Can. Bar Rev., 15.
6. Archives of Manitoba/Hudson's Bay Company Archives, Post Histories, Post Cross Lake; the Post History is annotated "Cree name: PEMICHIKAMOW – 'flowing across'", possibly by the first Hudson's Bay Company archivist Richard Leveson Gower in 1934; see also D.A. Simmons, ‘Custodians of a Great Inheritance: An Account of the Making of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, 1920–1974’, thesis, University of Manitoba/University of Winnipeg, 19 May 1994, at p. 73.
7. "[T]heir native name", see David Thompson: Travels in Western North America 1784-1812.
8. David Pentland, "Synonymy", in Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 6, June Helm, ed., Smithsonian Institution, Washington (1981), 227.
9. Hansard, Wednesday, June 11, 2008, Stephen Harper, "Apology to Former Students of Indian Residential Schools", http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3568890&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=2, accessed 1 August 2008.
10. See, for example: "Cross Lake Band", http://crosslakeband.ca/, accessed 4 September 2008.
11. "[T]he fact that land occupied a central position in the traditional world did not necessarily mean there was a comprehensive monopolistic concept of power applicable to all matters, to every person and thing within a rigorously laid-out geometric boundary that was unique and fixed in space." Ghislain Otis, "Territoriality, Personality, and the Promotion of Aboriginal Legal Traditions", in Indigenous Legal Traditions, ed. Law Commission of Canada, UBC Press, Vancouver (2007), p. 146.
12. Typically, river basins were reported to be the basis of distinct peoples' territories in the region; see: Victor P. Lytwyn, Muskekowuck Athinuwick: Original People of the Great Swampy Land, University of Manitoba Press , Winnipeg (2000), pp. 12 - 13.
13. Margaret Anne Lindsay & Jennifer S.H. Brown, The History of the Pimicikamak People to the Treaty Five Period, The Centre for Rupert's Land Studies at The University of Winnipeg (2008); this is consistent with the difference between the intended and actual boundaries of Treaty 5 in 1875.
14. Ronald Niezen, Defending the Land: Sovereignty and Forest Life in James Bay Cree Society, Allyn and Bacon, Boston (1998); and see Ghislain Otis, "Territoriality, Personality, and the Promotion of Aboriginal Legal Traditions", in Indigenous Legal Traditions, ed. Law Commission of Canada, UBC Press, Vancouver (2007), p. 145, emphasizing "the importance of the material and cultural connection with the land that was often a sacred space and the very foundation of communal life."
15. Ronald Niezen, Spirit Wars: Native North American Religions in the Age of Nation Building, University of California Press, Berkeley (2000), pp. 222-3.
16. E.g., Mikisew v. Canada, [2005] 3 S.C.R. 388 (Can.), http://csc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/2005/2005scc69/2005scc69.html, accessed 18 August 2008.
17. Lindsay & Brown, History of the Pimicikamak People to the Treaty Five Period, p. 1.
18. Andrew Graham, “A Plan of Part of Hudson’s Bay and Rivers Communicating with the Principal Settlements”, (1768) in John Warkentin & Richard Ruggles, Historical Atlas of Manitoba, The Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Winnipeg (1970), p. 95.
19. Sir John Richardson, Arctic Searching Expedition: A Journal of a Boat-voyage through Rupert’s Land and the Arctic Sea, in Search of the Discovery Ships under Command of Sir John Franklin, v. 2, Harper, New York (1851), p. 37.
20. Joseph Burr Tyrrell, in David Thompson's Narrative of his Explorations in Western America, 1784-1812, Champlain Society, Toronto (1916), lxvi-lxvii.
21. Archives of Manitoba/Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Journals of Exploration and Survey (1809), E.3/4, ff. 4 – 7; .
22. See: "Köppen climate classification", sub-arctic climate Dfc, Tom L. McKnight & Darrell Hess, "Climate Zones and Types: The Köppen System", in Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ (2000).
23. See: Galit A. Sarfaty, "International Norm Diffusion in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation: A Model of Legal Mediation", (2007) 48 Harvard International Law Journal 441, at p. 473."Based on ... inherent jurisdiction, the Cree ratified The First Written Law ... which laid the foundation for their adaptation of customary practices. ... It outlines the constitutional powers of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation..."
24. Pimicikamak, The First Written Law, 1996, http://pimicikamak.ca/html%20pages/Laws/Pimicikamak/First%20Law.html.
25. Privy Council Minutes, (1875) R.G. 2, Ser. 1, Vol. III, Minister David Laird, 2 July 1875, LAC, Privy Council Office, OIC 1875-0707, vol. 335, reel C-3312, access code 90, series A-1-d, vol. 2755.
26. Lieutenant-Governor of Keewatin and the North West Territories.
27. Alexander Morris, The Treaties of Canada with the Indians, Belfords , Clarke & Co., Toronto (1880), pp. 145 et seq.; Morris named it the Winnipeg Treaty.
28. Alexander Morris, The Treaties of Canada with the Indians, Belfords , Clarke & Co., Toronto (1880).
29. Lindsay & Brown, The History of the Pimicikamak People to the Treaty Five Period”, p. 87; J. Johnston, Map of Part of the North West Territory, including the Province of Manitoba, Exhibiting the several Tracts of Country ceded by the Indian Treaties 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (1877), from Early Canadiana Online: http://canadiana.org/ECO.
30. Vickers, J.: "While band level organization may have meaning to a Canadian federal bureaucracy, it is without any meaning in the resolution of Aboriginal title and rights for Tsilhqot’in people." Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia, 2007 BCSC 1700, http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/Jdb-txt/SC/07/17/2007BCSC1700.pdf, accessed 27 August 2008.
31. See, e.g.,: http://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/business/hansard/37th_2nd/vol_051b/h051b.html, accessed 5 August 2008.
32. http://nfa-arb.org/agmt/, accessed 18 August 2008.
33. Warren Allmand, the Minister of the government of Canada responsible for its approval of the agreement has publicly expressed the same view; see: Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Evidence, Warren Allmand, March 9, 1999, http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/committeepublication.aspx?sourceid=51970, accessed 30 November 2006; see also: Report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba, Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission, November 1999, http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumel/chapter5.html#24; accessed 5 August 2008.
34. Patricia Seed, "Three Treaty Nations Compared: Economic and Political Consequences for Indigenous People in Canada, the United States and New Zealand", in Natives & Settlers - Now & Then, Paul W. DePasquale, ed., University of Alberta Press (2007), p. 17.
35. Recent oral history tells that this flag appeared to the Secretary to the Pimicikamak Councils in a dream.
36. In R. v Secretary of State For Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, [1982] 2 All E.R. 118 (U.K.), Lord Denning said, "These customary laws are not written down. They are handed down by tradition from one generation to another. Yet beyond doubt they are well established and have the force of law within the community." In Campbell v. British Columbia, 2000 BCSC 1123 (Can.), http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/sc/00/11/s00-1123.htm, Justice Williamson said, "such rules, whether they result from custom, tradition, agreement, or some other decision making process, are 'laws' in the Dicey constitutional sense."
37. Pimicikamak, The First Written Law, 1996, http://pimicikamak.ca/html%20pages/Laws/Pimicikamak/First%20Law.html, accessed 4 September 2008.
38. Until 1999, Chief and Council of the Band acted as the Executive Council ex officio.
39. The Pimicikamak Election Law, 1999, s. 15 & s. 23, http://www.pimicikamak.ca/law/LAWoELEf_cor.DOC, accessed 6 August 2008.
40. Lindsay & Brown, The History of the Pimicikamak People to the Treaty Five Period”, p. 53.
41. Robert Brightman, Grateful Prey, Rock Cree Human-Animal Relationships, Canadian Plains research Center, Regina (2002); citing Victor G. Hopwood, ed., David Thompson: Travels in Western North America 1784-1812, Macmillan, Toronto (1971), see p. 131.
42. "Women are water people because we are life-givers. We are part of the creation, we look after our communities and children. Water is the lifeblood of Mother Earth, flowing through her veins, the rivers and lakes." Eugenie Mercredi, in Power Struggles: Hydro Development and First Nations in Manitoba and Quebec, Thibault Martin & Steven M. Hoffman, eds., University of Manitoba Press, Winnipeg (2008), p. 97.
43. Contra: they also received that gift, so the circle has no beginning.
44. Sarfaty attributes these roles to the influence of international human rights norms: Galit A. Sarfaty, "International Norm Diffusion in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation: A Model of Legal Mediation", (2007) 48 Harv. Int. Law J. 441, at p. 475, http://www.harvardilj.org/print/124.
45. The Pimicikamak Election Law, 1999, http://www.pimicikamak.ca/law/LAWoELEf_cor.DOC, accessed 6 August 2008.
46. Pimicikamak, The First Written Law, 1996, ss. 6 - 11, (as am. by The Pimicikamak Election Law, 1999, s. 123), http://pimicikamak.ca/html%20pages/Laws/Pimicikamak/First%20Law.html, accessed 22 August 2008; women also participate in the other three councils: Galit A. Sarfaty, "International Norm Diffusion in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation: A Model of Legal Mediation", (2007) 48 Harv. Int. Law J. 441, n. 178 at p. 476, http://www.harvardilj.org/print/124, accessed 18 August 2008.
47. Pimicikamak, The First Written Law, 1996, s. 13, http://pimicikamak.ca/html%20pages/Laws/Pimicikamak/First%20Law.html, accessed 4 September 2008; Galit A. Sarfaty, "International Norm Diffusion in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation: A Model of Legal Mediation", (2007) 48 Harv. Int. Law J. 441, at p. 476, http://www.harvardilj.org/print/124, accessed 18 August 2008.
48. While not explicit de jure as for the other traditional councils, the Youth Council also may exercise a de facto veto over written laws; see the effect of: Pimicikamak, The First Written Law, 1996, ss. 15 - 19; http://pimicikamak.ca/html%20pages/Laws/Pimicikamak/First%20Law.html, accessed 4 September 2008.