Land-based spirituality among the Cree of the Mushkegowuk territory

ABSTRACT

This article reports on findings from a research project investigating social, cultural, political, community, and spiritual impacts of a mining development sited in the Mushkegowuk territory of the coastal Cree people of western James Bay. When using a variety of indicators to explore how the negotiated agreement with an industrial proponent (diamond mining) was impacting community members, the threat to cultural lifeways and contingent spirituality as a result of land degradation was expressed by most participants in the study. While mindfulness, as adopted from the Buddhist tradition, denotes a very specific type of practice involving present-moment awareness, the breath, and body sensations, mindfulness in its broader definition refers more generally to a state of keen awareness. Across two phases of this research project, representing qualitative interviews with more than 50 participants, a picture of deep relationship and engagement with the land and its myriad life forms emerged, a picture suggestive of profound awareness, attunement, and reciprocity consistent with the broader definition of mindfulness. It is upon this land-based relationship that spirituality for the Mushkegowuk Cree people relies, and, as expressed by many study participants, the very core of their identity is founded on this form of spirituality.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous sovereignty
• Indigenous spirituality
• land-based spirituality
• mindfulness
• self-determination
• spirituality

Additional information

Funding

This research was generously funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.