Eeyou Istchee Cree Knowledge

The Eeyou Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Project (CHCRP) is a Cree-driven project that aimed to address the unprecedented loss of seagrass Zostera marina (Shikaapaashkwh ᔑᑳᐹᔥᒄᐦ in Cree; eelgrass in English), the concurrent decline in migratory Canada geese (Branta canadensis), and how these changes affected the fall goose harvest activities in Eeyou Istchee [1]. For an overview of the project, see  Eeyou Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Project StoryMap .

From 2017 to 2022, the project was governed by the following overarching questions:

1.    What are the main factors affecting the current growth of eelgrass along the eastern coast of James Bay?

2.    What is the impact of the current state of eelgrass beds on waterfowl presence along the coast of James Bay and, subsequently, Cree hunting activities?

To answer these two questions, the project was divided into five research components (Figure 1):

1. Ocean Team to characterize the coastal oceanography; see  Ocean Team Story Map  
2. River Team to characterize the river inputs to the bay; see  River Team Story Map  
3. Eelgrass Team to study eelgrass and the factors influencing its growth; see  Eelgrass Team Story Map 
4. Goose Team to study Canada Geese and their use of the coastal habitat; see  Goose Team Story Map  
5. Cree Knowledge Team to document Cree knowledge of eelgrass, geese, harvesting practices, and coastal environmental change

Here, in this story map, we present the results of the Cree Knowledge team.

The Cree Knowledge Team aimed to understand the ecology of coastal Eastern James Bay (Northern Québec).

The Cree Knowledge team documented Cree knowledge and practices associated with eelgrass (Zostera marina) and migratory waterfowl, following historical and contemporary approaches to understand Cree relationships with the coastal environment and the dynamics that shape them. While the historical approach deals with drivers associated with changes in abundance and distribution of eelgrass and waterfowl, the contemporary approach focused on Cree knowledge of eelgrass, waterfowl and how these have changed over the last 30 years or so, as well as the ongoing adaptation of peoples’ harvesting strategies.

This component generated information that helped the other research teams generate hypotheses and helped fill knowledge gaps related to historical changes and observations of the local environment.

Cree Knowledge Study: Contribution to the Research Program – Documenting Cree knowledge of eelgrass and waterfowl in the context of environmental change in Eeyou Istchee is very important for the research program. This component provides a Cree land user perspective about how the coastal environment has changed in recent history and how these changes have affected the presence, health and abundance of eelgrass, the geese and other migratory waterfowl that depend on it. In turn, this component also examined the impacts these ecological changes have on Cree culture, livelihoods, and ways of life.

The Cree knowledge study employed qualitative methods geared towards understanding and gathering land users experiences of environmental change.

Participant observation: Using this method, the researchers spend time with land users in their camps with the objective of participating in current hunting and harvesting practices and associated activities, visit hunting sites and listen stories of life in the camps in the past

Semi-structured interviews: during these interviews land users share their knowledge and stories about changes to the coastal ecosystem, including eelgrass bed locations, their health, the changing relations between eelgrass and waterfowl, as well as of current and historical hunting and harvesting practices.

Participatory mapping exercises: these exercises are intended to gather spatial information about the historical and current distribution of eelgrass beds, hunting sites and camps.

Importance of Cree Knowledge for Understanding Environmental Change in Eeyou Istchee

Cree knowledge is an expression of the intimate relation land users have with the environment and the human and non-human beings that inhabit it.

Documenting knowledge about environmental change gives an everyday, on-the-ground and detailed account of the drivers that are changing the environment, their effects on the local livelihoods and the short-term and long-term responses to such changes.

The information presented here is from a recently published paper led by Julián Idrobo  The "Turning Point" for the fall goose hunt in Eeyou Istchee: a social-ecological regime shift from an Indigenous knowledge perspective . This paper presents how Eeyou (James Bay Cree) from Wemindji and Chisasbi in Eeyou Istchee (Eastern James Bay, Québec) understand the transformation of their traditional fall goose hunt system.

Here we present some of the key findings:

1. Drastic decline of Canada geese during the fall migration over the past few decades
2. Geese feeding and migratory behavior became unpredictable
3. Eeyou land users associate such abrupt changes with the massive eelgrass die-off of the late 1990s, the onset of the effects of climate change on coastal habitats experienced since the 1970s, and agricultural development along geese flyways.

The Cree Knowledge team was led by Julián Idrobo, former Research Associate at the University of British Columbia, now working for the British-Columbia Government as a Senior Policy Analyst. He has a doctorate un Natural Resources Management and has over ten years conducting research related to indigenous knowledge systems and natural resources management.

Questions about this StoryMap ? contact Mélanie L. Leblanc melanie.leblanc@niskamoon.org

Visit our website for additional information about the project at  https://www.eeyoucoastalhabitat.ca/ .

[1] Fink-Mercier, C., Leblanc, M., Noisette, F., O’Connor, M., Idrobo, J., Bélanger, S., del Giorgio, P. A., de Melo, M., Ehn, J. K. , Giroux, J-F , Gosselin, M., Leblon, B., Neumeier, U., Sorais, M., Humphries, M. M., Peck, C., Davis, K. E., Guzzi, A., Galindo, V., LaRocque, A., Dunn, M., Courcelles, R., Durocher, C., Gilbert, J.-P., Tapiatic, R.,   Rabbitskin, E., and Kuzyk, Z. A. (2024). Cree-driven community-partnered research on coastal ecosystem change in subarctic Canada: a multiple knowledge approach, Arctic Science, e-First  https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0061 

[2] Kuzyk, Z.A., Leblanc, M.L., O’Connor, M., Idrobo, J., Giroux, J.-F., del Giorgio, P., Bélanger, S., Noisette, F., Fink-Mercier, C., de Melo, M., Walch, D., Ehn, J., Gosselin, M., Neumeier, U., Sorais, M., Davis, K., and Leblon, B. (2023). Understanding Shkaapaashkw (ᔑᑳᐹᔥᒄᐦ): Eelgrass Health and Goose Presence in Eastern James Bay. Final Report from the Eeyou Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Project (CHCRP). Prepared for Niskamoon Corporation. University of Manitoba, Winnipeg MB Canada. The document can be downloaded at:  https://canwin-datahub.ad.umanitoba.ca/data/fr/project/eeyou-coastal-habitat-project 

[3] Idrobo, C.J., Leblanc, ML. & O’Connor, M.I. (2024). The “Turning Point” for the Fall Goose Hunt in Eeyou Istchee: A Social-Ecological Regime Shift from an Indigenous Knowledge Perspective. Hum Ecol 52, 617–636 (2024).  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-024-00499-0