Counter-colonial governance, treaty-making, and territorial rights (2025-2026)

This series of events, activities and outputs – leading into the 50th anniversary of the November 11, 1975, signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement – considers the significance of this pivotal development, setting it within a broader discussion and analysis of Indigenous strategies for empowerment and recognition of territorial rights in Quebec, Canada, and internationally. Our events and activities investigate the legacy of the JBNQA for the contemporary political situation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Quebec, Canada and beyond. How did the JBNQA shape a particular kind of counter-colonial governance among the signatory nations? How did it influence the negotiation or non-negotiation of new treaties by neighboring Indigenous nations? How well do such treaties support the territorial rights of Indigenous peoples? What kind of life projects do they enable and promote? At the same time, investigation of the JBNQA legacy opens out onto the wider possibilities and challenges for counter-colonial strategies. What approaches alternative to or in tandem with treaty-making can ensure the continuity of Indigenous ways of being and relating? How can academic researchers support the ontologically grounded and counter-colonial processes of Indigenous nations as citizens, collaborators, partners and allies?

Supported by a Connection grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and a partnership between CICADA and Société Recherches autochtones au Québec, this project is coordinated by Colin Scott (McGill University), Émile Duchesne (Université Laval), Jasmin Habib (University of Waterloo) and Harvey Feit (McMaster University).

Thinking Power, Autonomy and Counter-colonial Action through Relationships – Harvey Feit Festschrift Colloquium (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, May 2-4, 2025)

May 2-4, 2025, colloquium co-organized by Jasmin Habib (University of Waterloo) and CICADA members Émile Duchesne (Université Laval) and Colin Scott (McGill University) to honour the career of anthropologist Harvey Feit. Building on the long-standing work of Feit in Eenou-Eeyou Ischtee communities (Cree Nations), this conference explores connections between northern communities in Canadian, American (Alaska), and Scandinavian contexts relating to self-governance, knowledge co-production, and policy engagement in Indigenous territories.

Treaty-making and its Alternatives, 50 years after the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (Canadian Anthropology Society Annual Conference, McGill University, May 8-9, 2025)

May 8-9, two paper sessions and two roundtables were organized by CICADA members Émile Duchesne (Université Laval) and Colin Scott (McGill University) to better understand how the JBNQA has framed the contemporary negotiation of treaties in Quebec and Canada. The presentations explored the impact of JBNQA among its signatory nations (Cree, Inuit and Naskapi) as well as its resonance among other First Nations in Canada (Ilnuatsh, Wendat, Atikamekw and Kluane). Central question to these explorations were: is there an alternative to treaty to assert indigenous sovereignties? What approaches alternative to or in tandem with treaty-making can ensure the continuity of Indigenous ways of being and relating?

Indigenous Voices around the 50^th anniversary of JBNQA (McGill University, November 2025)

More information soon!