Akimiski Island, Nunavut, Canada: The Use of Cree Oral History and Sea-Level Retrodiction to Resolve Aboriginal Title
On 1 April 1999, Akimiski Island of the western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada, was included in the newly formed territory of Nunavut, Canada—an Inuit-dominated territory—even though the Inuit had never asserted Aboriginal title to the island. By contrast, the Omushkegowuk Cree of the...
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2020
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crarcticinstna:10.14430/arctic71481 2024-09-15T17:35:22+00:00 Akimiski Island, Nunavut, Canada: The Use of Cree Oral History and Sea-Level Retrodiction to Resolve Aboriginal Title Tsuji, Leonard J.S. General, Zachariah Tsuji, Stephen R.J. Powell, Evelyn Latychev, Konstantin Clark, Jorie Mitrovica, Jerry X. 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic71481 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/71481/54586 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/71481/54587 unknown The Arctic Institute of North America http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ARCTIC volume 73, issue 4, page 421-432 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 journal-article 2020 crarcticinstna https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic71481 2024-07-30T04:00:26Z On 1 April 1999, Akimiski Island of the western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada, was included in the newly formed territory of Nunavut, Canada—an Inuit-dominated territory—even though the Inuit had never asserted Aboriginal title to the island. By contrast, the Omushkegowuk Cree of the western James Bay region have asserted Aboriginal title to Akimiski Island. The Government of Canada by their action (or inaction) has reversed the onus of responsibility for proof of Aboriginal title from the Inuit to the Cree. In other words, the Government of Canada did not follow their own guidelines and the common-law test for proof of Aboriginal title. In this paper, we documented and employed Cree oral history as well as a sea-level retrodiction (based on state-of-the-art numerical modeling of past sea-level changes in James Bay), which incorporated a modified ICE-6G ice history and a 3-D model of Earth structure, to establish that criterion 2 of the test for Aboriginal title has now been fully met. In other words, Cree traditional use and occupancy of Akimiski Island was considered sufficiently factual at the time of assertion of sovereignty by European nations. As all the criteria of the common-law test for proof of Aboriginal title in Canada, with respect to Akimiski Island, have now been addressed, the Cree have sufficient basis to initiate the process of a formal land claim. Article in Journal/Newspaper Akimiski island Arctic inuit James Bay Nunavut James Bay Arctic Institute of North America ARCTIC 73 4 421 432 |
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Arctic Institute of North America |
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On 1 April 1999, Akimiski Island of the western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada, was included in the newly formed territory of Nunavut, Canada—an Inuit-dominated territory—even though the Inuit had never asserted Aboriginal title to the island. By contrast, the Omushkegowuk Cree of the western James Bay region have asserted Aboriginal title to Akimiski Island. The Government of Canada by their action (or inaction) has reversed the onus of responsibility for proof of Aboriginal title from the Inuit to the Cree. In other words, the Government of Canada did not follow their own guidelines and the common-law test for proof of Aboriginal title. In this paper, we documented and employed Cree oral history as well as a sea-level retrodiction (based on state-of-the-art numerical modeling of past sea-level changes in James Bay), which incorporated a modified ICE-6G ice history and a 3-D model of Earth structure, to establish that criterion 2 of the test for Aboriginal title has now been fully met. In other words, Cree traditional use and occupancy of Akimiski Island was considered sufficiently factual at the time of assertion of sovereignty by European nations. As all the criteria of the common-law test for proof of Aboriginal title in Canada, with respect to Akimiski Island, have now been addressed, the Cree have sufficient basis to initiate the process of a formal land claim. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tsuji, Leonard J.S. General, Zachariah Tsuji, Stephen R.J. Powell, Evelyn Latychev, Konstantin Clark, Jorie Mitrovica, Jerry X. |
spellingShingle |
Tsuji, Leonard J.S. General, Zachariah Tsuji, Stephen R.J. Powell, Evelyn Latychev, Konstantin Clark, Jorie Mitrovica, Jerry X. Akimiski Island, Nunavut, Canada: The Use of Cree Oral History and Sea-Level Retrodiction to Resolve Aboriginal Title |
author_facet |
Tsuji, Leonard J.S. General, Zachariah Tsuji, Stephen R.J. Powell, Evelyn Latychev, Konstantin Clark, Jorie Mitrovica, Jerry X. |
author_sort |
Tsuji, Leonard J.S. |
title |
Akimiski Island, Nunavut, Canada: The Use of Cree Oral History and Sea-Level Retrodiction to Resolve Aboriginal Title |
title_short |
Akimiski Island, Nunavut, Canada: The Use of Cree Oral History and Sea-Level Retrodiction to Resolve Aboriginal Title |
title_full |
Akimiski Island, Nunavut, Canada: The Use of Cree Oral History and Sea-Level Retrodiction to Resolve Aboriginal Title |
title_fullStr |
Akimiski Island, Nunavut, Canada: The Use of Cree Oral History and Sea-Level Retrodiction to Resolve Aboriginal Title |
title_full_unstemmed |
Akimiski Island, Nunavut, Canada: The Use of Cree Oral History and Sea-Level Retrodiction to Resolve Aboriginal Title |
title_sort |
akimiski island, nunavut, canada: the use of cree oral history and sea-level retrodiction to resolve aboriginal title |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic71481 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/71481/54586 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/71481/54587 |
genre |
Akimiski island Arctic inuit James Bay Nunavut James Bay |
genre_facet |
Akimiski island Arctic inuit James Bay Nunavut James Bay |
op_source |
ARCTIC volume 73, issue 4, page 421-432 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic71481 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
73 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
421 |
op_container_end_page |
432 |
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1810454061101613056 |