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Randy Kapashesit
September 24th, 2009By Sandy Klowak
Randy Kapashesit found his calling early in life – leaving the island of Moose Factory to obtain a sociology degree from York University, he came back upon graduation in 1986 to work for his people, and is now Chief of the MoCreebec Council of the Cree Nation, and has been there ever since.
“I felt I should start here,” he said. “My own contribution should be with my own community of people.”
The MoCreebec Council has a unique forest jewel. Nestled on Moose Factory Island sits the Cree Village Ecolodge. This innovative centre was designed with sustainability as its top priority, featuring composting toilets, natural construction materials and efficient energy use. Cree culture strongly influences its architectural design. According to Kapashesit, this facility is built based on a non-consumptive model of economic activity and models traditional Indigenous values of respect for the earth in a modern setting.
“For the most part, people think that Indigenous people are people of the past, and our point is, we are still here […] our reality might be different than our ancestors’ but we can still reflect and legitimize our own values and our own ethics, and we have that responsibility to the extent that we’re trying to engage people of the world to […] see us as hosts in this part of the world,” Kapashesit said.
The Ecolodge brings Indigenous values to the forefront in a relevant context: as the global need for environmental sustainability becomes harder and harder to ignore, it’s clear that First Nations people have had it right all along. It hasn’t been easy; it took perseverance to get to where they are today.
In 1975, with the James Bay and Northern Flood Agreement, Kapashesit explained how his community fell through the cracks in the wake of a lands claim settlement. The settlement aimed to serve specific First Nations bands on the Quebec side of the nearby border, extinguishing native rights, titles and interests in exchange for programs and services such as education and healthcare. However, the settlement also affected those residing across the Ontario border, in the communities of Moosonee and Moose Factory. While these communities have historical, genealogical ties to the affected Quebec bands, they are no longer connected to the Quebec community in a formal or practical sense.
While the rights of the future MoCreebec people to make further claims were taken away with the agreement, because of their location, the Ontario residents have no access to the social services provided, Kapashesit explained.
Founded in 1980, the MoCreebec Council works to serve First Nations people in the Moosonee/Moose Factory region who have been disenfranchised by this grave bureaucratic oversight. The Council, which is not associated with any reserve or band, is recognized by other Indigenous groups. However, it is not recognized by the Indian Act and receives no funding from the Ontario government.
“Anything we’ve done, we’ve done on our own,” Kapashesit said.
Kapashesit began his work with the Council as a student. The absence of a paycheque for many years didn’t deter Kapashesit from putting his all into the job.
“I really felt like for me the commitment to be here was that, you know, this was really connected to me personally in terms of my own identity.”
For the last 45 years, the Moosonee/Moose Factory area has been a tourist destination for the Polar Bear Express, a train that takes tourists on day trips to the area during the summer season, said Kapashesit. As the oldest English settlement in Ontario, Moose Factory has long been a historical attraction. Still, with the Polar Bear Express’ popularity waning and little for tourists to spend their money on during the short stay, the community decided to develop a more viable tourist attraction on their own terms, in keeping with traditional values.
Noticing a fast growing market for ecotourism, the community began to consider the creation of an Ecolodge as an overnight destination. Engaging in such an endeavor was not something the community took lightly, Kapashesit said. Preparation for this new venture included “doing an inventory of who we are as a people.[ …] Part of that was to try to address and overcome some of the issues that were present in this community.”
Attracting people in the world market meant inviting strangers into their community, a daunting thought for many.
“If you’re going to be inviting the world to come and visit you, you better be prepared for all kinds of people to show up at your door who have a varied history […] who have a different skin colour than you, who potentially have a different set of values than yourself,” Kapashesit said.
The Ecolodge broke ground in the fall of 1999 and opened in July 2000. Integral to the project was the community’s desire to provide an authentic service for those interested in traveling the world with lighter ecological footprints, as well as getting in touch with nature and the traditional way of life.
“You can’t ‘greenwash’ an experience,” said Kapashesit. Sensitive to the growing popularity of ecotourism, they focused on the importance of keeping true to strict ecological building, design and maintenance principles that some so-called ecolodges have glossed over in the interest of profiting off a trend.
“We felt like if we’re going to get involved with this kind of activity then we better be serious about what this means,” Kapashesit said.
To consistently live up to these values and goals is a constant struggle, he admitted.
“It requires you to be true to yourself as a culture and as a people[…] trying to be as responsible as a people could be, and should be.”
In terms of First Nations’ role in the larger conservation effort, Kapashesit said Indigenous people need to truly be respected as leaders in sustainability and environmental responsibility. He feels that they are currently treated as a trivialized afterthought– First Nations ’ approval on conservation projects is sought too late and only for good measure, he said.
The Indigenous way of life teaches sustainability as inherent in everyday actions, and the fundamental question that divides Indigenous and European cultures, according to Kapashesit, is: “do you see yourself as a part of nature or separate from it?”
A connection to nature is essential for lasting sustainability, a principle that the Cree Village Ecolodge hopes to promote.
