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dam-l Re: [harmful-hydro] Split Lake Cree Chief's recent letter to Premier Doer
It's pretty common for soem portion of any group to
disagree with the majority. My understandingis that
of all the Flood Bands, the Split Lake crew are the
onely opne's saying this.
I have a question and some small amount of information
to pass along.
First the question? How is the voice of one lone *leader*
of a group of many bands necessarily representative of
anything other than dissent?
Considering the scioentifically validated impacts on the land
I question the scruples and the wisdom of the chief of the Split Lake Cree.
The Flood Band Cree live on the land. We all do but urbanites are
further removed from the process and like to think maybe we aren't
dependant on the land.
The land the flood bands live on is made up of friable soils
that easily erode, and they are dependant on fisheries for their
sustainance. Now aside from the fact that suicide, heart disease and
diabetes rates are through the roof in aboriginal populations who have
had fish removed from their diet because of methylmercury contamination
of fish such as whitefish and pike, caused by the decomposition of
flooded bog and other boreal vegetation...
When one lives one is depeandant on the land, the HABITAT of
the people, conservation of the health and viability of the land effects
the economy.
Therefore I urge the people who may be swayed by the lone voice of the
chief of the Split Lake tribe - a voice whose good will I question in
light of my own decade of studying this stuff...
to read the following:
Vol 41 of Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences,
published in 1984, almost 20 years ago which studied the
impacts of just a mere portion of these projects in detail;
the whole volume is devoted to the impacts of part of the Nelson-Chirchill
projects on the ecology and ecosystems of the studied area -
Southern Indian Lake Area.
I have some other references too which I can send to anyone whose into it.
You may also wish to check out
http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/dams
Manitoba's most lucrative whitefish fishery was ruined by the last
set of these things.
Actyual known and predictable impacts of these projects need to be
considered in a rational light and not just in light of the
"lone voice in the wilderness" of the chief of the Split Lake Cree
as if he wered some all knowing 'renegade' or genius in posession of
knowledge whicvh would make the projects ecologically - and thus economically - for the rtest of the Cree Nation - acceptable.
-Dianne Murray
coordinator, dam-reservoir working group
ottawa, ontario, canada
References: