Ted Moses
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Dr. Ted Moses (1950- ) is a Cree politician from Nunavik, in northern Quebec, Canada. He is Grand Chief of the Crees at the Eeyou Istchee (Cree for "Grand Council of the Crees"). Dr. Moses is a recipient of the title of "Officer" of the National Order of Quebec.
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Profile
Ted Moses was born in Eastmain, in the James Bay region of Quebec. After studying at Ryerson University in Toronto and McGill University in Montreal in school administration, he was Chief and Mayor of the village of Eastmain from 1987 to 1990. He was elected Grand Chief of the Crees in 1984. He is active on the international stage, speaking at numerous events about aboriginals and tolerance.
Achievements
Chief Ted Moses achieved a number of things since becoming the leader of the Eeyou Istchee. These are two generally seen as some of the most memorable.
UN recognition
Chief Moses was instrumental in obtaining formal recognition for the James Bay Crees as a Non-Governmental Organization in consultative status to the United Nations. As a matter of fact, he currently serves as the Ambassador of the Council at the UN.
La Paix des Braves
Another important achievement is the signing of the Paix des Braves ("Peace of the Braves"). Along with Premier Bernard Landry (of the independentist Parti Québécois, or PQ) and the government of Quebec, Moses and the Council developed this agreement. Far more than an economic deal, it was a "nation to nation" (the Cree and Quebec nations) declaration of peace after long, bitter legal disputes between Cree leaders and the Government of Quebec.
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This was and still is widely seen as a symbolic show of mutual respect and recognition of the national status and right to self-determination of each people. It was put into concrete action when Ted Moses surprised many by supporting the re-election of Landry's Parti Québécois in the 2003 Quebec election after years of refractory attitudes of the Cree people towards Quebec sovereignism. He declared:
- "I support Bernard Landry... my friend and my brother... and I will recommend to my people to support the actual Member of Parliament of Ungava, Michel Létourneau."
(Ungava is the electoral riding of the Cree of Quebec.) Moses and the PQ leader have indeed become close: Landry invited Moses to his wedding on June 26, 2004.
During the campaign for the 2004 federal election, Moses also stated that he was counting on the Bloc Québécois, the PQ's brother party in at the federal level of Canadian politics, to defend aboriginal rights at the federal level. Moses dod not formally support the BQ, saying that it "did not need it" because of its considerable lead in polls. Furthermore, he declared in a speech in Europe that Quebec and the Paix des Braves were examples to follow for the world regarding relations with aboriginal peoples.
External link
- Grand Council of the Crees website (http://www.gcc.ca/)