The James Bay Cree: People, Place, and Political Ecology on the Modern Resource Frontier

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Northern Issues Summer 2011 Registration Form

Hulbert has been organizing Northern Issues Trips since 1991 to examine, first-hand, some of the pressing cultural, political and environmental issues surrounding native peoples and their land. This Field Course (syllabus) will focus on Cree culture and resource extraction issues of Northern Quebec; how this resource is being managed and it’s direct impact on native people of this area.  Our main objective is one of visiting the sites and having dialogue with the people involved on all sides of this important issue.  Our intention is to educate ourselves, in an objective manner, in order to make knowledgeable decisions. 

Participants on this trip will be from a variety of backgrounds.  There will be a maximum of six to eight participants and two instructors in this group. Travel, by van, will start and end in Fairlee, VT.  The nature of this trip demands participants who are flexible and adaptive, since traveling in the North is sometimes unpredictable. However, weather and native time schedules occasionally leave us open for unexpected adventure, and wonderful opportunities.

We will spend time in a number of Cree Communities, including Waskaganish, Chisasibi, Waswanipi, and the newly created community of Ouje Bougoumou. Ouje Bougoumou has been recognized by the United Nations as a model aboriginal community. We will spend five days traveling by canoe with Anna and David Bosum, on a traditional hunting ground route. From the Bosum family we will learn about the world of these native people, and how they have lived, as a hunting and trapping culture, for thousands of years.

Instructors for this trip will be Hans Carlson and Naomi Heindel.  Hans is keenly interested in northern  cultures, especially the James Bay Cree.  He has worked for Hulbert Outdoor Center leading the Cree Culture Snowshoe trips in the winter, and is an alum of Keewaydin Camps Wilderness Trip program.  He has a PhD. and is the author of Home is the Hunter; The James Bay Cree and their Land. He is a Wilderness First Responder.  Naomi has a long standing interest in the James Bay Cree and has traveled there to do research. She graduated from Dartmouth College where her Senior Thesis dealt with James Bay Cree forestry issues. She will begin her Masters studies at Yale School of Forestry in September.  She has been a Wilderness Trip Leader for Darrow Camp in Maine for many years and is an avid outdoorswoman. Anna and David Bosum will be our guides while canoeing. The Bosums have spent most of their lives in the bush.

Hulbert Outdoor Center and the Bosums will provide all camping gear except sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and personal items. A very detailed equipment list will follow should you decide to join us.  The trip is moderately demanding, since the schedule is full and we will be canoeing and camping.

Total cost of the trip which includes transportation, food, camping equipment, leadership, Cree guides and canoes will be $3500 USD which may include college credit as an independent study. A non-refundable deposit of $250 will hold a place for you. Upon receipt of your deposit, a confirmation packet with detailed information, background reading, itinerary, equipment list, etc will be sent. 

Hulbert Outdoor Center, a non-profit educational center founded in 1978, supports Native Issues Trips to the North as one of the many educational programs it offers to the public. The Center, which served 6,000 people last year, considers it’s mission one of enabling people to enrich and change their lives, their communities and their world  through experiential education programs. 

For further information, please call 802-333-3405.