Ted Moses

Early Days

Ted Moses was born in 1950 in Eastmain, Quebec. Eastmain is a Cree community on James Bay’s eastern shore. He attended Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and McGill University, earning a degree in school administration. He began his career as Eastmain’s band manager.

James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement

In 1971, the Quebec government announced the James Bay Hydro-Electric Project. Eight new generating stations would flood portions of Cree and Inuit land. This flooding would negatively affect the environment and their traditional ways of life. Neither the Cree nor Inuit were consulted. An injunction temporarily stopped it.

Justice Albert Malouf convened 71 days of hearings to investigate the situation. Moses served as a translator for these hearings. Malouf’s 1973 report stated that the Cree and Inuit had legal right to the land. Additionally, Malouf argued that Quebec needed their permission to use it.

In 1974, the Cree Nation established the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee). At the time, the Grand Council of the Crees represented 9 Cree communities in Quebec. The Cree call their territory Eeyou Istchee, meaning Peoples’ Land in their language. It appointed Moses chief Cree negotiator.

Moses helped negotiate the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA). The JBNQA recognized Cree and Inuit priority rights to the land, their jurisdiction to govern and develop it, and established financial compensation for land lost to flooding. It also established support for economic development, forest protection, education, health, social services and local self-government.

The JBNQA was Canada’s first modern land settlement agreement and informed future settlements. Moses wrote in 2004, “The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) is better than any agreements signed by other Aboriginal nations since 1975.”

Political Leadership

In 1978, Ted Moses was a founder and the first director-general of the Cree School Board. He oversaw the building of schools and a curriculum that respected Cree worldviews and knowledge.

Moses was a member of the negotiating team that created the 1984 Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act. It recognized the Cree and Naskapi right to self-government based on their status as nations with established sovereignty and authority.

Moses served as grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) from 1984 to 1987 and from 1999 to 2005. He was Eastmain’s Chief from 1987 to 1999.

In 2001, Moses was again the lead Cree negotiator in talks with the Quebec and Canadian governments. These negotiations were meant to resolve disputes related to the JBNQA and the proposed Great Whale River Hydroelectric Project. On 7 February 2002, the parties signed the Agreement Respecting a New Relationship Between the Cree Nation and the Government of Quebec, commonly known as Paix des Braves (Peace of the Braves).

It reaffirmed the necessity of Cree consent to future infrastructure projects that affected their land. Also, it provided a new forest management plan that recognized Cree knowledge, a dispute settlement mechanism and financial support. The agreement served as a model for future nation-to-nation negotiations between Indigenous peoples and the federal and provincial governments.

International Advocacy

For several years, Ted Moses was the Cree ambassador to the United Nations. In this position, he won consultative status for the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee). As a result, the UN’s Economic and Social Council must consult with the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) on matters affecting it. He represented the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria.

Moses was a founding member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace. This organization offers conflict resolution ideas to Indigenous peoples around the world. He accompanied its missions to Chiapas and Columbia.

While representing Canada at a United Nations seminar in Switzerland, Moses helped produce the 1989 report The Effects of Racism and Racial Discrimination on the Social and Economic Relations between Indigenous Peoples and States.

Moses has delivered speeches in many countries advocating for Indigenous rights. For example, he participated in the Future of Australia's Dreaming conference.

Corporate Leader

Ted Moses is the founder and director of the Cree Nation Trust, Youdin Rouillier Drilling, Pétronor, Apitsiu Construction Ltd. and Kaweshekami Environment Inc.

In December 2009, Moses was appointed president of the Secretariat to the Cree Nation Abitibi-Témiscamingue Economic Alliance. This alliance promotes cooperation and economic development.

Awards

• Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Saskatchewan (1996)
• Man of the Year, L’actualité (2001)
• Personality of the Year, La Presse (2003)
• Officier, National Order of Quebec (2002)
• Honorary Doctor of Laws, Concordia University (2005)