Over the years, the Cree people of James Bay and Hydro-Québec have developed and implemented multiple agreements, such as the Opimiscow Agreement, Mercury Agreement, Cree Employment Agreement, Nadoshtin Agreement, Boumhounan Agreement, the Agreement Concerning the New Relationship between Hydro-Québec/SEBJ and the Crees of Eeyou Istchee, and the Sarcelle Agreement.
These Cree/Hydro-Québec Agreements resulted in the creation of numerous corporations such as the Opimiscow Company, Eeyou Namess Corporation, Apatisiiwin Corporation, and Nadoshtin Company. These entities pursued similar mandates, resulting in a great deal of unnecessary confusion.
In August 2004, the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), the Cree Regional Authority, the nine Cree Nations (Chisasibi, Whapmagoostui, Wemindji, Eastmain, Waswanipi, Nemaska, Waskaganish, Mistissini, and Oujé-Bougoumou), Hydro-Québec and SEBJ executed an agreement known as the Agreement Concerning the Administration of the Cree-Hydro-Québec Agreements and the Niskamoon Agreement, referred to as the “Niskamoon Agreement.”
Principles objectives of the Niskamoon Agreement
The Niskamoon Agreement called for the creation of a not-for-profit corporation – Niskamoon Corporation, whose principal objectives are to:
- Facilitate, simplify and accelerate access to the benefits, measures, resources, and programs under the Cree/Hydro-Québec Agreements for the Crees, the Cree communities, and other Cree entities
- Provide a more efficient framework for cooperation between the Crees and Hydro-Québec with respect to the implementation of the Cree/Hydro-Québec Agreements
- Provide more effective mechanisms for the implementation of the Cree/Hydro-Québec Agreements
- Streamline and render more effective the administrative costs to the Crees associated with the implementation of the Cree/Hydro-Québec Agreements
- Bring better coherence to the implementation of the Cree/Hydro-Québec Agreements
- Regroup under the Niskamoon Corporation large parts of the administration and management of the Cree/Hydro-Québec Agreements