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Appreciating difference? A view from Indigenous rivers
Author(s) -
Desbiens Caroline
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the canadian geographer / le géographe canadien
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.35
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1541-0064
pISSN - 0008-3658
DOI - 10.1111/cag.12578
Subject(s) - indigenous , modernization theory , geography , geographer , ethnology , political science , history , sociology , law , cartography , ecology , biology
While the Saint‐Laurent river is considered to be the cradle of Québécois society, many other great rivers are found across the province—other cradles of civilizations, indigenous to the continent, notably the Chisasibi and the Manicouagan. These rivers played a key role in the Québécois movement of affirmation and modernization in the twentieth century. They are valued by many people in Quebec for their hydroelectric output rather than for their cultural richness and significance for the Eeyou (Cree) and Innu Nations. Since the 1990s, I have been able to study Quebec's historical geography from the standpoint of these rivers thanks to the expertise of Eeyou and Innu knowledge holders. Using the concept of decolonization as a practice, I explore how this has impacted both my work as a geographer and my cultural identity as a Québécois woman .