What is James Bay?

James Bay is the southern extension of Hudson Bay, an inland sea bordered by Ontario to the west and south and Quebec to the east. The bay covers about 68,300 square kilometres and is shallow (average depth less than 100 metres). James Bay is named after the English navigator Thomas James, who explored and overwintered in the bay in 1631 to 1632. Major rivers entering James Bay include the Albany, Moose, Harricana, Eastmain, La Grande, and Rupert.

James Bay was a major centre of the Hudson's Bay Company fur trade. Moose Factory, on Moose Factory Island in the mouth of the Moose River, was established by Charles Bayly in 1673 as the second HBC post in Canada. Fort Albany on the Albany River dates to 1675. The communities along the western (HBC) side of James Bay include Moose Factory, Moosonee, Fort Albany, Kashechewan, and Attawapiskat (all Cree communities in Ontario today). The eastern (Quebec) side includes Cree communities at Eastmain, Wemindji, Chisasibi, Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik, and the Cree Nation of Mistissini further inland. About 18,000 Eeyou (James Bay Cree) live in nine communities in Eeyou Istchee.

The James Bay Hydroelectric Project, the largest hydroelectric system in Canada, was built on the La Grande River and its tributaries on the eastern side of James Bay between 1971 and 1996. The project includes the Robert-Bourassa generating station (formerly La Grande-2, completed 1981, with 5,616 megawatts of capacity, one of the largest underground power stations in the world), the La Grande-1, La Grande-3, La Grande-4, and Brisay generating stations. Total capacity is about 16,000 megawatts. The Eastmain-1 and Eastmain-1-A generating stations on the Eastmain River added another 1,300 megawatts in 2006 and 2011.

The James Bay Project triggered the first modern Indigenous land claim in Canada. Cree opposition to the project led to a Cree-Inuit-Quebec injunction filed in 1972 and a Quebec Superior Court order halting the project in November 1973. The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement of November 11, 1975 settled the dispute, providing $225 million in compensation, full ownership of about 14,000 square kilometres of land, exclusive Cree harvesting rights on another 150,000 square kilometres, and Cree-Naskapi and Inuit (Kativik Regional Government) self-government. The Paix des Braves of 2002 (the Agreement Concerning a New Relationship Between le Gouvernement du Quebec and the Crees of Quebec) consolidated the relationship. The Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement of February 15, 2010 (effective 2012) covers the Eastern James Bay marine area.