Nemaska – Quebec

“I particularly remember visiting…

Nemaska means “Place of Plentiful Fish,” and the reason they chose their community in 1979  after a proposed Hydro-Quebec dam project threatened to flood their ancestral village. Jolly reported that the colonial government wanted to relocate them in a swamp but they fought back and determined where to settle: “At the time, the Department of Indian Affairs wanted to impose another site on us, but it was partly a swamp so we chose to settle here instead, where it’s dry, in a place where there is everything we need to hunt and fish” (CBC, 2023). I both visited the new and old Nemaska. Both are gathering places with walking access to the lake, forest, school, band office and community centre from any home. They have cul-de-sac and energy efficient housing embedded in nature to allow people to thrive and be remain comfortably experiencing Cree culture and modern conveniences. They have biomass heating to ensure energy security and local hunters and fishers for food security.”(Booklet Positive Lived Experiences of Quality in the Built Environment 2023, p.232).