On August 18, Freddy Jolly, a Nemaska Cree trapper, completed a 14-day, 456-kilometer walk to raise awareness of the potential effects of a proposed damming project on Quebec's Rupert River.
Jolly, along with approximately 100 Cree people, rallied for support to stop large-scale damming projects for the Rupert that have been proposed by Hydro-Quebec and its private partners. If completed, the large-scale dams will generate energy to be sold to the United States.
For Jolly, the walk was a success. "The walk was hard and people were touched," he said. "I've seen a lot of tears from the Cree youth and elders."
Jolly believes that damming the Rupert for hydropower generation would be culturally and ecologically devastating. "The damming project is not only going to affect the Nemaska Cree. It will affect the white people and the international tourists that come to paddle on the Rupert."
The flooding resulting from the proposed dam would destroy trap lines belonging to Jolly and other Cree trappers, he said. For Jolly, a trapper who spends 180 days a year in the bush, the results would be disastrous.
Upon completion of his walk, Jolly spoke to a group of Cree about the benefits of wind power as an alternative to hydro-electric projects. "We should start to think the other way," he said. "We should start to look at wind power. We still have time to save the river."
Despite Jolly’s opposition, other tribal leaders are in favor of the damming project. In 2002, the BBC reported that George Wapachee, chief of the Nemaska, said the dam would offer future generations an alternative to hunting and trapping.
