The Grand Council of the Crees is the political body that represents the approximately (2003) 14,000 Crees or “Eeyouch” (“Eenouch” – Mistissini dialect), as they call themselves, of eastern James Bay and Southern Hudson Bay in Northern Quebec, Canada. The Grand Council has twenty members: a Grand Chief and Deputy-Grand Chief elected at large by the Eeyouch, the chiefs elected by each of the nine Cree communities, and one other representative from each community. The present grand chief is Matthew Mukash, and the deputy grand chief is Ashley Iserhoff. The Council’s head office is in the Cree community of Nemaska, although it also has offices in Montreal and Ottawa. Cree camp near Vermilion, Alberta The Cree are an indigenous people of North America whose people range from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean in both Canada and the United States. ... James Bay in summer 2000 James Bay (French, Baie James) is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. ... Hudson Bay, Canada. ... Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices and at least two murders by FLQ gunfire and three violent deaths by bombings. ... City motto: Concordia Salus (Latin: Well-being through harmony) Province Quebec Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area  - % water 500. ... {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Advance Ottawa/Ottawa en avant City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada location. ...

The Council was formed in 1974 during the negotiations between the Eeyouch and the Quebec and Canadian governments about their rights in the face of the James Bay I Hydroelectric Project, which had already been under construction since 1971. When the hydroelectric scheme was first announced the Eeyouch of Eeyou Istchee were governed by a traditional political structure. That political structure was organized to exploit the resources of Eeyou Istchee by their traditional hunting, fishing and trapping way of life. Cree lands were divided into family harvesting territories, each headed by a hunting leader or “Outchimau”, that were resource management units and a means of distributing the Cree people over a vast territory. The Grand Council was set up at a council of Cree leaders as a means to conduct relations with the outside world. Since the signing of the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement the Grand Council has paired with the Cree Regional Authority, which serves as an administrative arm for providing services to the Cree communities and for environmental protection. Both organizations have the same board of directors. The James Bay Project is the construction of a massive hydroelectric generation system in northwestern Quebec. ... The James Bay And Northern Quebec Agreement was Canadas first modern Aboriginal land claim settlement, approved in 1975 by the Cree and Inuit of northern Quebec, and later slightly modified in 1978 by the Northeastern Quebec Agreement, through which Quebecs Naskapi Indians joined the treaty. ...

External link

• Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) Website