Putting Down Stakes – Washaw Sibi moves closer to building its home
Putting Down Stakes – Washaw Sibi moves closer to building its home

By Patrick Quinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Nation Following moving presentations at the Cree annual general assembly in August, momentum is building to finally establish a village for the Washaw Sibi community. As the long-displaced people secure Category 1A lands transferred from other Cree communities, construction may soon begin on a site near Matagami. Historically occupying lands south of Waskaganish – between La Sarre and the mouth of the Harricana River – Washaw Sibi members were divided between Hudson Bay posts on both sides of the Quebec-Ontario border when the Canadian government pushed them onto existing reserves in the 1960s. Many were forced to join the Algonquin reserve of Pikogan near Amos. While living under a different First Nation resulted in culture loss and incidents of racism over the

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