An Oblate missionary writing in the 19^th century described how we have historically managed our resources.

“Each of them has their own part of the forest that extends for 20 to 40 square miles; they are as familiar with the borders of their own grounds as a habitant knows the boundaries of his own farm. Everybody is free to fish where he wants, as well as to take whatever food is necessary for subsistence; but as far as the hunting of precious furs is concerned, no one can encroach on the territory of a neighbour.”

Jean-Maurice Matachewan, former chief of Barriere Lake, describes the social organization that ensured the ecological sustainability of the traditional economy.

“We organized ourselves around the four seasons. The weather and climate determined what animals, plants, birds and fish we could harvest through the year. This was our source of survival for many generations. Our lands provided us with all we needed to survive. The waters were full of fish – walleye, pike, trout and sturgeon. The forest provided us with plants such as strawberries, blueberries and various types we used for medicine. The trees provided wood and bark, which we used for fuel, shelter, transportation and tools. Our traditional homes were made out of birch-bark sheets wrapped around frames of various shapes and sizes. We hunted caribou, moose, deer, bear, geese, ducks and partridge. We also harvested beaver, marten, fisher, fox, lynx and rabbit.”

“These poor children of the forest are becoming more and more miserable every year. This is because the whites are ravaging their hunting grounds, denuding their forests and destroying their game which is the sole source of subsistence for these poor people.”

Abbé Proulx, in an 1892 correspondence, describes the vicious cycle that was decimating the Algonquins.

“The precious fur-bearing animals are becoming rare; the men from the lumber camps are fighting a battle until the death with them; the savages are losing their courage for conserving the animals on their hunting territories. They say, ‘If we don’t kill these otters and martens, even though it isn’t the right season, then the whites will kill them.’ So the hunt becomes a real massacre, a deplorable destruction.”

The Quebec government, however, seemed to have another agenda as this report from one of Quebec’s Inspectors of Game makes explicit:

“The new law doesn’t offer any tangible advantage to the Indians, but that is not necessarily a reason for rejecting it. The Savages belong.... to a minority that can only weaken with the years, either by the transformation of their ways, or alas by death…before a quarter of a century is gone, perhaps, the savages will be no more than a memory! Is it wise to sacrifice, for needs that are more fictional than real of this race that is leaving, the interests of the majority of the state?”