ᐐᒥᓂᒌ Wemindji

History

Wemindji is a fairly new community comprising Cree families originally living at the trading post in Cree named "Paakumshumwashtikw", in French Vieux-Comptoir River, known as Vieux-Comptoir or its English equivalent "Old Factory". This trading post was founded in the 17th century and was alternately under British or French control. In 1959 the community was relocated about 45 km north to its present location (where Wemindji is now). Wemindji (Cree for "red ochre mountain") gets its name from the red pigment found in the hills surrounding it. It has also been known in French as "Nouveau-Comptoir". The Cree Nation of Wemindji is one of the nine communities under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement signed on 1975 by the Cree, Inuit, Quebec government and federal government. The Cree went on an injunction to make an agreement on the project of hydro development because the Quebec government and hydro development failed to recognize the Cree's rights to their land. In 1975, the [James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement] between the Crown and the indigenous people in Canada was the first leading agreement since the numbered treaties of the 19th and early 20th centuries. From 1973 to 1975, this agreement was negotiated and on November 11, 1975, it was signed. As specified in the agreement, the Aboriginal people traded their rights and territorial interests for different rights and benefits. Special membership was insisted by the Aboriginal people to allow them to take charge in their local and regional government, The creation of their own health and school boards, measures for economic and community development, special regimes for police and justice and environmental protection. The agreement allowed them to gain a technical definition of the La Grande…

Most-observed species

• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  27
• White-throated Sparrow

  Zonotrichia albicollis (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  27
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  22
• Swainson's Thrush

  Catharus ustulatus (Nuttall, 1840) · Aves
  19
• Arctic Tern

  Sterna paradisaea Pontoppidan, 1763 · Aves
  18
• Yellow Warbler

  Setophaga petechia (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  16
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  15