The Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation provides philanthropic support for the Crees of Eeyou Istchee, in northern Quebec. The Foundation is Cree-led, with a Board of Directors comprised of Cree government and civil society leaders, and promotes the social and cultural development priorities of the Cree nation.
The Foundation works to build capacity and resiliency in the Cree communities and institutions through funds related to education, youth development, culture, health and social services, housing, and community development.
The people of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee have travelled far and worked hard to secure broad recognition of who we are, our remarkable history, and what we can accomplish. We have regained mastery of our lands and resources. We have established institutions of sound governance, launched flourishing businesses, and built strategic alliances with business and government at all levels.
And yet, too many who live across the ten communities of Eeyou Istchee lack the advantages non-Native communities take for granted. In housing and social services, in health care and cultural development, in education and job creation, the gap remains far too wide.
Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations, the Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation reflects the Eeyou Istchee philosophy of putting the needs of our land, our people, and our communities first.
We are deeply committed to preserving the land we’ve walked for thousands of years, so both the Boreal forest and species like Woodland caribou, moose, and others are secured. The Cree Nation Government has set aside, untouched and undeveloped, almost a third of our land, and we insist on Cree-led environmental reviews of any development projects in the region.
Guided by these principles, the Foundation supports a wide range of charitable causes across the region.
We are over 20,000 strong, living in 10 Cree communities across Northern Quebec.
We have lived in harmony with the cycles of nature for millennia. Ancient laws and customs guided the Crees’ shared stewardship of a vast territory called Eeyou Istchee. When Europeans arrived, our people integrated some valuable European technologies and ways. We developed a reputation as skilled negotiators and intermediaries with other nations. The Cree system of land and resource management began to shift in the early 1600s.
When the Hudson’s Bay Company was established (1670), we expanded our traditional trapping practices to participate in this fur-trading economy. Like First Nations across the continent, the Crees gradually lost control of our lands, rights, and resources. Families were uprooted from their homes and lands. Poverty became a way of life, and many of our children were forced into the infamous residential school system, whose long shadow haunts Canada and its indigenous people to this day.
In the 1970’s, when a massive hydroelectric project threatened Cree lands and way of life, the leaders of Eeyou Istchee stepped forward. They changed the project’s course, won self-government for the Crees, and established a strong voice in future developments.
Quebec’s James Bay hydroelectric project, planned without consulting the people most affected, was a defining moment in modern Cree history. The project would forever flood Cree lands and erase an ancient way of life. In response to this threat to our very existence, our leaders launched challenges in the courts of law and public opinion and successfully negotiated compensation for the affected communities.
On November 11, 1975, the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) was signed–a world first for Indigenous peoples. Beyond material compensation, the agreement formalized self-government and territorial rights. This agreement launched a movement toward increasing self-determination for the Crees of Eeyou Istchee.
Subsequent agreements include the Paix des Braves Agreement (2002) and the New Relationship Agreement with the federal government (2008). The Eeyou Istchee James Bay Governance Agreement (2012) established shared governance, development and partnerships across one of the world’s largest regional governments. The Crees of Eeyou Istchee and the Government of Canada Agreement (2017) advanced Cree self-governance on lands surrounding the Cree communities.
Each has been an important milestone in helping us determine our way forward.
As a nation, we have evolved significantly since the signing of the JBNQA. Today, many Cree-owned business flourish and contribute to Quebec and Canadian prosperity. We manage our own education and health care systems very effectively, and deliver culturally appropriate essential services across our vast territory.
Through our community and economic development efforts, we are rebuilding long-standing family and community structures, but much remains to be accomplished. Within this challenging social and economic environment, the Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation aims to make a profound difference through programs that will respond to the needs of our people and our communities.
In the late 1990’s, the Cree Elders identified the need for a major cultural institution in Eeyou Istchee that would embody their vision of “aanscha”—the passing on of Cree culture and traditions. In 2000, the leaders of Eeyou Istchee established a charitable foundation, the Aanischaaukamikw Foundation. The Foundation executed a highly successful $25 million fundraising campaign by inviting philanthropic partners to invest in a ground-breaking new cultural organization that would celebrate and protect Cree language and culture.
Located in Oujé-Bougoumou and completed in 2011, Aanischaaukamikw is today among the world’s leading institutions devoted to the study of Indigenous history and culture. The Aanischaaukamikw Foundation’s great philanthropic success demonstrated the Cree’s ability to manage a successful major fundraising campaign, and proved our capacity to engage governments, corporations, institutions, and the people of Eeyou Istchee. The Aanischaaukamikw campaign’s success paved the way for the Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation, established in 2016.
Learn more about the Sophie Happyjack -Bosum Memorial Fund here.
The Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation works with the Cree Nation Government and other Cree stakeholders to:
The Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation is the legacy of a long tradition of wise and prudent governance. The Board of Directors includes Cree leaders from the business, education, health and social services, culture, and government sectors distinguished by their high ethical standards and reputation.
The Board sets policy and guidelines for assessing grant requests from Cree communities, and meets regularly to distribute grants. Decisions are based on the viability and expected impact of each project, and by carefully tracking each project’s progress and outcomes.
Tina Petawabano, Chair
Director of Federal and Indigenous Relations – Cree Nation Government
Grand Chief Mandy Gull-Masty
Chair – Cree Nation Government
Adrian N. Gunner
Youth Grand Chief, Cree Nation Youth Council
Derrick Neeposh
Chair – Cree Nation Government Board of Compensation
Dr. Sarah Pashagumskum, Vice Chair
Chair – Cree School Board
Bertie Wapachee
Chair – Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay
The Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation is proud to partner with the employees of Newmont Éléonore in the establishment of the Newmont Éléonore Employees Orange Shirt Day Fund.
The Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation is proud to partner with the employees of Newmont Éléonore in the establishment of the Newmont Éléonore Employees Orange Shirt Day Fund.
Orange Shirt Day is a commemorative day which raises awareness of the individual, family and community intergenerational impacts of residential schools. The event is held each year on September 30 to mark Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
The Fund was developed at the request of the employees of Newmont Éléonore’s state-of-the-art gold mine located in Eeyou Istchee. The mine’s team wanted a meaningful way to show their support for the Crees of the region.
“The Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation is proud to partner with the employees of Newmont Éléonore to recognize the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation,” explains Tina Petawabano, Chair of the Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation. “The Cree people have strong, positive relationships with Newmont Éléonore employees and support from them has special meaning for us.”
Donations from this Fund will support the preservation and sharing of the culture, language and history of the James Bay Crees and the work of Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute, the regional museum and cultural institute of the Cree Nation.
Donations to the Newmont Éléonore Employees Orange Shirt Fund can be made by credit card through this link: Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation | Charity Profile | Donate Online | CanadaHelps.
Donations to the Fund will be matched by Newmont Éléonore and will receive a charitable tax receipt.
Credit: CBC Radio Canada
The forest fires in Northern Quebec this Spring and Summer are an extraordinary disaster, with both immediate and long-term effects for people, wildlife, and the land.
The forest fires in Northern Quebec this Spring and Summer are an extraordinary disaster, with both immediate and long-term effects for people, wildlife, and the land. For the people of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee, the impact of these fires has been devastating. Thousands of Crees, including children and Elders, have been displaced from their communities. Many have lost the traplines and bush camps that are essential to the Cree way of life.
According to Cree Nation Grand Chief Mandy Gull-Masty, “Every person I’ve spoken to – every elder – has shared the same thing: ‘I’ve never seen this happen before.’ If this is the harbinger of things to come, the impacts will be incredibly harsh, and could change the entire face of Eeyou Istchee and the 20,000 Crees who live and work here.”
The Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation has established a special 2023 Forest Fire Emergency Fund to help Cree families who have been severely affected by the fires. The Foundation is working closely with the Cree Trappers Association and the Cree Nation Government to identify and support those most in need throughout Eeyou Istchee.
Foundation Chair Tina Petawabano emphasizes the urgency of this need: “The fires are volatile and unpredictable, and likely to continue for months to come. Our ability to act quickly and help people and communities will make a profound and important difference.”
Donations can be made by cheque payable to Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation.
Please send to:
Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation
700 De La Gauchetière West, Suite 1600
Montreal, Quebec H3B 5M2
OR
By credit card through Canada Helps at: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/EECF/
For more information, please contact Ross Clark at ross@creefoundation.ca or by telephone at 514-910-2075 or Tina Petawabano at tina.petawabano@cngov.ca
EECF and partner Beneva Assurance provide sustaining funding to Cree Health Board for innovative teepee project that gives long-term Indigenous medical patients a welcome dose of culture.
The Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation is pleased to provide multi-year funding for a unique cross-cultural project that provides a healing environment for Cree medical patients undergoing treatment in the Montreal area.
Foundation Chair Tina Petawabano explains: “The Teepee Project, located in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, provides a facility that offers Cree patients a place to gather, cook traditional Cree food, and connect with their culture. Day trips to the project allow patients to get away from health care facilities for a while, and it’s clear that this lifts their spirits and contributes to healing.”
By providing $37,000 to the Cree Health and Social Services Board of James Bay, the Eenou-Eeyou Community Foundation and Foundation partner Beneva Assurance are helping to make this important project truly sustainable.
Bertie Wapachee, Chair of the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay, adds: “This welcome support from the Cree Foundation and Beneva Assurance will make a real, ongoing difference in a project that brings Cree and Mohawk communities together, while providing an important and positive healing component based on our traditions.”