Strangers Devour the Land: A Chronicle of the Assault upon the Last Coherent Hunting Culture in North America, the Cree Indians of Northern Quebec, and Their Vast Primeval

This is simply a great book. It deals with the Cree living in northern Quebec near James Bay and how in the late 1960s and early 1970s there traditional livestyle, already negatively affected by the workings of the Canadian government, was under attack again. This time it was the government of Quebec led by Robert Bourassa; they had this grand idea that they would turn northern Quebec, which they viewed to be barren and useless land, into one major power generating station. This meant daming rivers and flooding huge tracts of land, land which happened to be the traditional hunting ground for several thoudand Crees, who, despite facing years of injustice and discrimination, continued to subsist to a large degree off of the land. Prior to this period, the Quebec government would likely have been able to proceed unhindered, but by the late 1960s the Native people of Canada were beginning to assert their rights, and Bourassa soon found himself facing very strong opposition. The issue went to court and after a long legal battle, the courts ruled in favour of the Cree. It was a victory that was, however, very short-lived, as within days the ruling was overturned. The Cree intended to continue the fight, but it soon became evident that nothing would become of it; it would take years before the matter would be resolved, and by that time the James Bay project would be complete. So the Cree reached a settlement with the Quebec government.Although the book's central focus is the struggle between the Cree and the Quebec government over the James Bay project, the book also provides the reader with a very intimate and compelling portrate of the Cree people and their lifestyle which was then dying out. It should be noted too that the author was also responsible for several documentary films about the Cree: "Job's Garden" and "Cree Hunters of Mistassini" both of which provide an excellent visual account of the Cree people and the "barren" land that they inhabited and were fighting to save.This book was reprinted in 1991 with an additional chapter updating events since the book was initially published in 1975.