Voices From the Odeyak

This book details the struggle against the James Bay II Hydro Project.

On April 23, 1990, after a five-week journey from Hudson Bay to the Hudson River, the Odeyak landed at the Battery for Earth Day. Half-Cree, half-Inuit, the 24-foot freighter canoe, plowing across the Manhattan seascape, was a strange small vessel build in the dark Arctic winter to carry a message from two First Nations of the northern wilderness to a reclaiming of Times Square for Mother Earth.

Along with the Crees' and the Inuit's hopes and fears for their children and for the future of their river, the Odeyak carried a simple request. The Great Whale Hydroelectric Project, the first part of James Bay II, will destroy the natural economy of the Great Whale region, killing the way of life the Crees and the Inuit have followed since time immemorial. It came to ask the people of New England and New York not to buy the power.

Foreword by Pete Seeger
Preface
Acknowledgement
The Cast of Characters
Maps
Cree and Inuit Places Mentioned
The Odeyak’s Journey from Ottawa to Vermont
The Odeyak in New York
1. Manhattan Transfer
- The Big Apple
- Pier 26 and Battery Park
- Earth Day - Times Square
- Visiting the Shinnecocks
- Goose Break
2. Building the Odeyak
- The Place to Which the Whales Come
- Returning the Gift
- The Healing Vessel
- The Boat Builder
- Departing Great Whale
- Photo Section: The Odeyak Travellers and Their Hosts
3. The Whale and the Seal - Traditional Way of Life
- Commonality and Diversity
- The Cree of Whapmagoostui
- The Inuit of Kuujjuaraapik
- A Brief Political History of Ungava
- Canadian Boundaries - Native Realities
4. The Bulldozer - James Bay
- The James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement
- A Sense of Uncertainty
- Freshwater Seals
5. A Canadian Wilderness
- Over the Ice to Chissasibi
- Launching in the Ottawa
- Kanesatake - Before the Oka Crisis
- In the Mohawk Longhouse
6. Odeyak Discovers Lake Champlain
- The Hero Island Schools
- Vermont Welcome
- Meeting the Governor
- The Vermont Public Service Board - Cutting the Goose
- The Towns Vote
7. The Clearwater’s Blanket
- North River Friends
- Toshi Seeger - Grandmother of the Hudson
- A Springtime Route
- Crisis At Glens Falls
- At the New York State Capitol
- Easter on the Hudson
- Last Stop - Yonkers
8. River Talk, Legal Talk
- Flyways and Byways
- The Moral Equivalent of Famine
- The Plea for Peace
- The Campaign to Save Great Whale, 1990-1992
- The Battle for James Bay in the Courts
9. The Power and the Glory
- Disregard of the Law - Contempt for the First Nations
- The Need for American Concern
- Hydro Contract Cancelled by New York Governor
- On Becoming Fully Responsible
- Environmental Assessment Starts
- Self-Determination
A Post Script, October, 1993
Bibliography
Index