In the 1970s, Hydro-Qu?bec declared “We Are Hydro-Qu?b?cois.” The slogan symbolized the intimate ties that had emerged between hydroelectric development in the North and French Canadian aspirations in the South. Caroline Desbiens focuses on the first phase of the James Bay hydroelectric project to explore how this culture of hydroelectricity hastened the erasure of Aboriginal homelands and the manipulation of Northern Quebec’s material landscape. She concludes that truly sustainable resource development will depend on all actors bringing an awareness of their cultural histories and visions of nature, North, and nation to the negotiating table.

The Canadian North is witness to some of the most innovative efforts by Aboriginal peoples to reshape their relations with "mainstream" political and economic structures. Northern Quebec and Labrador are particularly dynamic examples of these efforts, composed of First Nations territories that until the 1970s had never been subject to treaty but are subject to escalating industrial demands for natural resources. The essays in this volume illuminate key conditions for autonomy and development: the definition and redefinition of national territories as cultural orders clash and mix; control of resource bases upon which northern economies depend; and renewal and reworking of cultural identity.