Eeyou Istchee (Cree for "The People's Land") is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) of Quebec, represented by the Grand Council of the Crees. Its geographical code is 993. It comprises numerous scattered non-contiguous communities primarily enclaved[1] within the municipality (M) of Baie-James, but not a part of it. The total land area of these communities is 5,586.23 km² (2,156.855 sq mi). There was a combined population of 14,131 persons as of the Canada 2006 Census. Its largest community is Chisasibi, on the south bank of La Grande River, near the northeast shore of James Bay.
Eeyou Istchee TE was created on Nov. 30, 2007.[2] Its territory had previously belonged to the TE of Jamésie. Eeyou Istchee encompasses in particular the Cree reserved land (TC) of Whapmagoostui and the Cree village (VC) of the same name. These are the only municipalities in Quebec lying north of the 55th parallel north (that is, in Nunavik) but not belonging to Kativik TE.
Together with the TEs of Jamésie and Kativik, it forms the region and census division (CD) of Nord-du-Québec.
The TE of Eeyou Istchee is coextensive with the territory of the Cree Regional Authority. It consists of the following municipal units.
Contents |
The above map indicates the Category I lands reserved for Natives 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. In Category II lands, owned by the Crown-in-right-of-Quebec, hunting, fishing and trapping rights are reserved for natives and forestry, mining and tourism development authority is shared. In Category III lands, some specific hunting and harvesting rights are reserved for natives, but all other rights are shared subject to a joint regulatory scheme. Roughly 14,000 km2 fall into Category I, 150,000 km2 in Category II, and 908,000 km2 - almost 60 percent all land in Quebec - are in Category III.
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||