If Quebec quit Canada against the wishes of its indigenous peoples, would it just be tough luck for the Crees, whose lands make up almost half the province?
The 1975 agreement gave the Crees control over the local school board, which has mandated school instruction through the third grade strictly in the Cree language.
Yet the Crees have preserved important parts of their culture, and one-third of their work force still live off hunting, fishing and trapping.
In a generation, the Crees have evolved from a nomadic people who lived in tepees, had arranged marriages and used dog teams into an increasingly suburban society with power tools, snowmobiles cellular telephones and computers.
Resigned to the project, the Crees signed an agreement with the Quebec provincial government this month that will open their vast territory -- a third of the province -- to expanded logging, mining and hydroelectric installations.
In 1975, the Crees signed an agreement with Quebec that allowed for the flooding of hundreds of square miles of hunting lands in exchange for $232.5 million in compensation over 21 years, guaranteed incomes for Cree hunters and subsidized housing.
