and the White Water
Between You
Put Our Skirts
In fighting a project such as this, there are two fronts: qualitative and quantitative, or head versus heart. Engineers and officials speak in dollars and efficiency, and on that Gagnon had to “read, read and read” to get up to speed.
More and more, Gagnon believes, the heart has a role in arguing losses such as a whole river and all that that takes with it. “We see that in the opposition to the mini hydro here in Quebec, with 60 artists joining the movement, arguing on the basis of beauty and attachment of people to their rivers. It doesn’t stand on scientific ground, but we have to cling to these arguments because they are real. Because they are not rational does not mean they are not real. I think the scientific and the rational way of environmental activism is behind us. In the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s there were lots of fights on scientific grounds, and that will still have a place, but it has become sterile. There are always experts who can prove that everything is black or prove that everything is white. We are proud to state the emotional and sacred aspect. More and more we are going to hear that in activism, especially working with the Cree. The Rupert and other rivers have sustained life for centuries and represent something to be cared for. It is not H2O in a valley. It is life. It is something to be respected. That is the origin of the name Rupert Reverence. The first commitment we have is to make people develop a more reverent attitude towards the rivers.”
I asked Gagnon what it is like to confront such a daunting task. “People say we are fighting such a ‘big machine’ with Hydro Quebec, the province and the Grand Council of the Cree and think we don’t have a chance, but the common man and woman want to know what is going on—there is not much information disclosed.
“The environmental assessment process has never stopped a dam. I think
it’s a means of diverting energy of activists. We meet on officials’ turf, they listen to us and file away the document. There is no change. We have to be creative and original in ways of informing and opposing. The public thinks we are ‘extreme.’ I say let’s be extreme, but extreme in a noble way—a way to make the world a better place to live.”
Gagnon and his partners are putting the language of powerful waters into words we can understand, and trying to interpret that language to those who seem to be oblivious to it: “Every word we say is a little drop, and a river is composed of drops.”
—Jeff Jackson
The strength of a movement is based on the number of its supporters. Learn more about Rupert Reverence at
www.infose.com/rupert/SaveTheRupert.html or
actiplan@sypmatico.ca. One of the Rupert documentaries will air in early April on the Discovery Channel.
2003 Early Summer 19
Eric Gagnon in the Cree village of Waskaganish at the end of the 2002 Rupert Reverence
expedition. photo by Regan Moran
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