Oblate presence: 1977 – Geographical location: James Bay

The St. Joseph Catholic Mission in Fort George is located on the east coast of James Bay, about 200 miles northwest of Moosonee, Ontario. Moosonee is the centre of all Catholic missions in James Bay; it is where the Vicar Apostolic resides. For the people of Quebec, Fort George is located in the territories of the New Quebec, at the mouth of the Fort George River, north of Abitibi, about 450 miles north of Matagami and 550 miles north of Amos.

The St. Joseph Mission was founded by the Oblates in 1922. Protestant missionaries had arrived in the far north of Quebec several decades earlier. As a result the Amerindians and the Inuit had adopted Anglicanism. The majority are Anglicans even today. Catholic missionaries have always been seen as intruders. They held on anyway. They opened a boarding school that was taken over by the Grey Sisters of the Cross of Ottawa. A small hospital has also been opened there.

Today, the hospital has become practically autonomous and depends on the Quebec Ministry of Health.

The mission has its own tradition, its own spirit that has not been implanted by whim or preconceived ideas, but by and in everyday reality. No one can ignore this past, this spirit. What the mission expects from both its religious and lay staff, is that they know their past, respect it, improve it, and that everyone brings the best of themselves to build on what already exists.

Relocation of the Cree of Chisasibi:

On November 8, 1980, the newspaper La Presse announced that Fort Gorge, the largest aboriginal village in James Bay and its population, would change name and location (Chisasibi). Located on a sandy island at the mouth of the Grande Rivière, the village faced serious erosion problems every spring. Under the terms of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, these problems had to be resolved. The Cree recommended that the village be moved about nine kilometres upstream from the mouth of the Grande Rivière. The terms of this agreement were ratified by the signing of the Chisasibi Convention in April 1978.

The vast majority of the Fort George Cree chose to leave their island to relocate to a new site, Chisasibi. A special organization, the Fort George Relocation Society, was created for this purpose, a society run entirely by the Cree people.

Everything was done democratically. Each family had the following choices: a new home in Chisasibi, moving their house from Fort George to the new site or staying on the island. The majority chose a new house in Chisasibi. Some families chose to stay on the island.

Eugène Lapointe OMI