The total land area of Eeyou Istchee is 5,271km2 (2,035sqmi), though the Grand Council of the Crees sees Eeyou Istchee as a much larger contiguous traditional territory and homeland of 450,000 square kilometres (170,000sqmi).[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.
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).[7] 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.[citation needed] 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 14,000km2 fall into Category I, 150,000km2 in Category II, and 908,000km2 - almost 60 percent all land in Quebec - are in Category III.
(/iːjoʊ̯ɪst͡ʃi/,[1]Northern East Cree: ᐄᔨᔨᐤ ᐊᔅᒌIiyiyiu Aschii/ijɪjɪuəstʃi/, Southern East Cree: ᐄᔨᔫ ᐊᔅᒌIiyiyuu Aschii/ijɪjuəstʃi/ or ᐄᓅ ᐊᔅᒌIinuu Aschii/inuəstʃi/, all meaning 'The People's Land';[2]French:[ijuistʃi])
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
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eeyou Istchee.