MoCreebec want recognition as distinct Cree community

A group of Indigenous people in northern Ontario is planning a move.

The MoCreebec are descendants of Cree families from the Québec side of James Bay.

They settled in northern Ontario, around Moose Factory and Moosonee.

As recently as 40 years ago, many members were living in tents year round.

The MoCreebec organized, formed an association, and started to address the social needs of their people, such as proper housing.

Then, they started up cable and Internet companies in Moosonee and Moose Factory, and opened the Cree Village Eco Lodge to help develop Indigenous tourism in the region.

MoCreebec chief, Allan Jolly, says the federal and Ontario governments have yet to recognize the MoCreebec as a First Nation community. 

He adds that he is now calling on both governments to give official recognition to the MoCreebec as a distinct Cree community in Ontario, and the MoCreebec are now focused on selecting a new site for a new home.

"We've never had our own community and part of the political issue here is that we are registered with Québec First Nations on the Québec side -- Northern Québec," said Jolly.

"To this day, even myself, I'm still registered with Waskaganish First Nation. That's the next community over on the Québec side," said Jolly.

"Many of our people are still registered with Québec First Nations, explained Jolly. "Out of the 10 First Nations on the Québec side, we're registered with six of them."

Jolly says his community has a practical reason for looking at a move to the mainland. Moose Factory is an island. 

"There is going to be less land available for property development, housing development," said Jolly. "We know that going forward there's just no room here for future development."

The two sites under consideration are Moosonee and Smooth Rock Falls. Jolly says the appeal of Smooth Rock Falls is that it's accessible by highway, something that the youth of his community want in order to access educational and health facilities. 

"We are a distinct group of people," said Jolly. "We would like to have a place so we can have our own school, teach our own dialect of Cree language and do other things that most First Nations are able to do for themselves," he stated. 

Jolly says he has already spoken with the 10 Cree communities on the Québec side about the MoCreebec becoming a distinct community. He has also met with officials in Moosonee and Smooth Rock Falls. 

The deadline for the MoCreebec to pick a location is March, says Jolly. Negotiations would then follow with provincial and federal governments and other Cree governments to discuss the location for a new site, and the legal and political framework of the new community.

"We're determined to go forward and make something happen," said Jolly.