SASKATOON — The Cumberland House Cree Nation (CHCN) is fighting back by filing a lawsuit against the government at the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench for years of environmental destruction inflicted on the Saskatchewan River Delta (SRD), which, they say, has been deteriorating after years of upstream activities and other development.
The SRD, or the Cumberland Marshes, is located approximately 450 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, covering 10,000 square kilometres that span the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The SRD, located within Treaty 5 Territory, is the largest river delta in North America and the traditional fishing and hunting grounds of the CHCN’s ancestors.
CHCN Chief Rene Chaboyer, who was joined by Councillors Beverly Goulet and Angus Mackenzie along with Elders and members of their band, said Tuesday all they wanted was to hold the provincial government accountable for failing to protect the wetlands, which are part of constitutionally protected Treaty rights.
“With protection, you need management. Our people and the land users, who live by the delta, know and see the changes occurring. What’s going to help save the delta is our people, and the [provincial] government needs to step forward and stand behind us and help save one of the world’s beautiful areas,” said Chaboyer during a media event at the Delta Bessborough Hotel.
“I don't know how much clearer, how much louder, how much more we can stress the significant damage and loss? For generations, I've seen leaders before me say the same thing. Address the same matters. But today I'll keep pushing the envelope further and move forward even stronger.”
Goulet added that their lawsuit, filed with Tim Dickson of JFK Law as their counsel, is not about the money, since that will pass and one cannot take it to their grave. However, protecting the delta and preserving its ecosystem would benefit future generations, whether Indigenous or non-Indigenous.
“We were supposed to protect the delta. It doesn’t matter who you are, what [skin] colour you have, we are all going to feel the [delta’s] impact. We [CHCN] are a small community opposed to a giant. We are going to pay a high price; instead of worrying about money, we should remember that we can’t take it with us when we pass. Remember the children,” said Goulet.
“I am old, I’m not going to be here maybe 10 years down the line, who knows, but our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be. That is who we want to protect, because we have done enough damage to this planet. To protect it, we have to work together because that is not what I want to leave my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
The CHCN leadership is sounding the alarm, noting that their ancestors agreed to share the lands and waters in the territory surrounding the delta with settlers, with the Crown promising they could continue their way of life, which includes hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering. That, however, is threatened by industrial, agricultural and urban activities.
Dickson said that, in their view, no adequate consultations were done with the CHCN, especially on the impact of building hydroelectric dams. The Gardiner, Nipawin and E.B. Campbell dams are located upstream of the delta, with the latter near the Cumberland Marshes and constructed in 1963.
“These were built decades before. There was no consultation at that time, and not the kind of assessment on the impacts on the delta that you would expect to see if they were built now. These are the legacy of the structures. Cumberland House has been living with the burden for a long time,” said Dickson.
Substantial amounts of the wetlands have been lost, while other areas are in the process of drying up, affecting populations of furbearers, birds, fish, moose and other species essential to the ecosystem, he added. Additionally, the CHCN people are no longer able to rely on the water, which has become undrinkable due to changes in water levels and flow.
