Strangers Devour the Land

by Boyce Richardson, Winona LaDuke (Foreword by)

First published in 1974, Strangers Devour the Land is recognized as the magnum opus among the numerous books, articles, and films produced by Boyce Richardson over two decades on the subject of indigenous people. Its subject, the long struggle of the Crees of James Bay in northern Quebec—a hunting and trapping people—to defend the territories they have occupied since time immemorial, came to international attention in 1972 when they tried by legal action to stop the immense hydro-electric project the provincial government was proposing to build around them.

The Crees argued that the integrity of their vast wilderness was essential to their way of life, but the authorities dismissed such claims out of hand. Richardson, who sat through many months of the trial, mingles the scientific and Cree testimony given in court with his own interviews of Cree hunters, and experiences in gathering information and shooting films, to produce a classic tale of cultures in collision.

In a new preface, he reveals that the Crees—now receiving immense sums of money as compensation for the loss of their lands—appear to be doing well, and to be in the process of joining modern, technological culture, while retaining the spiritual base of their traditional lives. Meanwhile, Hydro-Quebec continues to eye additional rivers on the Cree’s lands for new dams.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this and took my time reading it to absorb as much as possible. Some of the writing style is irritating-- the back and forth quoting of the James Bay courtroom transcripts-- but overall, it's a great and expressive document of the lives of Cree folks continuing the traditions they've followed for thousands of years. It gives a far better and more detailed account of the centrality of "the land" to Crees than anything else I've come across, and underlines the importance of being "on the land" as people so often say. The land is the fabric of memory for so many of these people, the source of food, the place they have always existed. Culture and spirituality flow from it: the land itself is always primary.

I also appreciated--maybe selfishly--the perspective of an outsider having the culture and traditions explained to him, since I too am an outsider who works with Cree people as a writer and journalist, often asked to tell their stories to a wider audience. It's an honour and a challenge, so I'm intrigued to see someone else tackling the same job well. Obviously I'd love to hear these stories told by Crees themselves (as I have in the course of my work), but the outsider's perspective has its own value.

Today I interviewed the Director of Justice for the Cree Nation for an article I'm writing. We talked about restorative justice and rehabilitation for Cree offenders, and he told me that one of the most important things that Cree justice offers is the chance for those returning to communities from detention to go out on the land. In many cases these are people who have done harm: they may even have hurt family or friends, and the people they care about may be afraid of them. It's hard for these people to accept someone who's done harm back into their community, obviously, but it's also hard for the offender who may feel further alienated after already having felt some distance (caused and exacerbated by things like addiction and abuse). I asked the Director of Justice whether the reason people want to go out on the land is that so many of them still follow in the traditions-- traditions described in this book. He said it's more complicated than that-- many do, but others have not had enough exposure to the land and feel instinctively that it will help heal them. They may have missed the opportunity to spend months at a time along the family trapline, where their ancestors are buried, and they want that connection and understand that it's part of what can help them prevent repeating the mistakes and harm that got them sent away.

He also told me that one initiative that the Cree Department of Justice has pushed has been bringing traditional foods to Cree prisoners four times a year: goose in spring, fish in summer, moose in fall, and caribou in winter, to remind them: this is the food that comes from the land. This is what you're missing as a result of the harm you've done, but it is also what you'll return to. The land will be there when you come back to it.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't even finished this book, but I'm reviewing it because my impression of it won't change. This book is an intimate look into the life of the Cree people of the James Bay area in 1971, and how their lives are affected by the colonisation of their land. It is another sad chapter in the oppression of Canada's indigenous peoples, which reads just like any headline today. It is enraging that this continues.