Before the 1970s, Cree culture was part and parcel of a way of life that centered on hunting, fishing and trapping. It was a way of life founded on a special relationship with the land and its resources, plus the handing down of knowledge from one generation to the next in the bush.

With the advent of residential schools in the 1960s came changes in the transmission of traditional knowledge, because children were spending far less time in the bush. This was one of the main reasons why Cree organizations took specific steps in the 1980s and 1990s to support hunting, fishing and trapping and the transmission of traditional knowledge.

The continuation and transmission of Cree culture are a major concern for all Cree organizations. The most active groups in this respect are described below.

• The Cree School Board teaches the Cree language and culture, develops teaching material in Cree, organizes encounters between elders and students at cultural camps and oversees the two-year Alternative Education Program that teaches hunting, fishing and trapping practices.

• The Department of Traditional Pursuits of the Cree Regional Authority provides the communities with technical and scientific support for traditional pursuits and the transmission of Cree culture; it is also responsible for the James Bay Cree Cultural Education Centre and for archaeological digs.

• The Aanischaaukamikw (Cree Cultural Institute) and cultural coordinators employed by band councils in the communities gather data on Cree traditions and culture through such methods as interviewing elders. The coordinators publish the elders’ stories, particularly in The Nation magazine. They also organize cultural activities to draw the generations closer together. (For example, young people from Wemindji descend the Rivière du Vieux Comptoir every year with elders.).

• The Cree Trappers’ Association supports trapping by providing subsidies or services to build hunting camps and boat ramps, develops snowmobile trails and goose habitat areas, provides air or ground transportation, buys or rents equipment, takes out insurance, etc.

Another example of an initiative to preserve Cree culture is the institutionalization by local and regional groups of the “goose break”, a goose hunting holiday in the spring. The goose break has become an opportunity for all Crees, young or young at heart, to reconnect with traditions and revive social and family ties. Hunting, fishing and trapping are still practiced and family members continue to learn related skills on trips to traplines, but now with the support of Cree organizations that are actively seeking new ways to ensure the transmission of traditional know-how.