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Wachiya! (Greetings!) We are the people of Oujé-Bougoumou. We are one of 9 communities which comprise the Cree Nation situated in the northern part of Quebec, Canada. Our mission is to establish a foundation for future generations of Oujé-Bougoumou Crees which is based on:
After living peacefully on our lands for over 5,000 years, we were forced to relocate seven times during the 20th century in the name of progress and industrial development. We took the first steps to control our destiny in the 1980's, drawing on the wisdom of our elders in establishing a permanent village. Our community, built between 1991 and 1995, is a reflection of the harmonization of traditional wisdom and contemporary technology. Three guiding principles, given to us by our elders, determined the location of our community, and the process which has enabled us to build it successfully.
In building our village, we insisted on managing the process ourselves. We created a unique self-financing housing program, and built energy-efficient and inexpensive homes that are easy to maintain and are compatible with our culture. The members of our community learned contemporary construction skills during the process, and use those skills today to maintain the village. Our district heating system is another example of sustainable activity based on our traditional values of full utilization and respect for the environment. We use sawdust, the waste product of a nearby sawmill, as fuel for a hot water heating system which serves our entire community of 700 people.
Our web site is http://www.ouje.ca
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