In November 2024, the Aashukin Advisory Committee selected 10 Cree organizations — two communities and eight regional organizations — to form a Steering Committee and plan the creation of the new organization. Each member organization has assigned a representative who contributes their personal and institutional perspective to the project, guides the work of the Aashukin staff, and ensures alignment with the vision of the Advisory Committee.
The Committee’s work is guided by Iiyiyuu Iinuu values and priorities: Iiyiyuu Iinuu self-determination in research and research governance; protection and respectful use of Iiyiyuu Iinuu collective knowledge and data; transparency, accountability, and clear communication with communities and organizations; and meaningful, mutually beneficial research partnerships.
Member Organizations and Representatives
Two Cree First Nations — the Cree Nation of Chisasibi and the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi — sit on the Steering Committee alongside eight regional organizations. The two communities have been at the forefront of research in Eeyou Istchee for decades, and every member organization brings its own experience of conducting, supporting and overseeing research. The regional organizations below all play a significant role in developing research projects and partnerships, shaping the future of research in Eeyou Istchee, or upholding existing Iiyiyuu Iinuu research governance policies and processes. Their guidance and contributions are essential to shaping Aashukin’s programs into tools that are meaningful to the Cree Nation, without duplicating existing processes. Aashukin’s operations must remain complementary to what already exists across the Cree Nation, while addressing the significant gaps in asserting Iiyiyuu Iinuu research governance throughout Eeyou Istchee.
Cree Nation of Chisasibi
James Bobbish · Councillor
The Cree Nation of Chisasibi conducts and supports community-based research through the Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute (CERRI), a community research centre established in 2016. CERRI works to ensure that research on the territory reflects the priorities, values and lived experience of the Eeyou, while supporting long-term stewardship of the land, waters and wildlife. Weaving Iiyiyuu Iinuu knowledge together with science, its projects range from marine ecology and eelgrass monitoring in James Bay to archaeology, cumulative effects, hydrogeology and sustainable agriculture. Chisasibi is currently developing its own research review protocols, and its Chief and Council endorse research projects based on their benefits to the community and their alignment with community values.
Cree First Nation of Waswanipi
Michael Neeposh · Councillor
Waswanipi was the first initiator of a Cree regional research and research governance organization: around 2010–2011, the community launched the Cree Research and Development Institute (CRDI) project, from which the creation of Aashukin draws direct inspiration. Its Natural Resources Department, whose mandate is to maintain, promote, preserve and enhance the Cree way of life through responsible stewardship of natural resources, has been leading research on the territory for many years. The Waswanipi Forest Authority, under the Natural Resources Department, conducts and supports community-based research, particularly in forestry and sustainable land management. Research projects in the community are endorsed by the Chief and Council based on their benefits to the community and their alignment with community values.
Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)/ Cree Nation Government
Melissa Saganash · Deputy Executive director
The Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)/Cree Nation Government is the regional government of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee and the body under which Aashukin is being established. Several of its departments — notably Environment — collaborate with researchers on a regular basis, from wildlife and environmental studies to land-use planning. The GCC/CNG supported the region-wide consultations that led to the creation of Aashukin and is one of the initiative’s core funders. Through Aashukin, it carries forward the mandate of Cree self-determination in research and research governance for the whole of Eeyou Istchee.
Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay
Mary Monger · CBHSSJB Research Office
The Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay delivers health and social services across Eeyou Istchee and maintains the most comprehensive research governance framework in the region. Its formal research policy, updated in March 2024, maps the full lifecycle of a research project and relies on in-house committees to screen and review proposals. The policy is anchored in the Miyupimaatisiiun Research Principles, which set out what the Cree Health Board expects of every partner conducting research under its auspices. Its policies and review practices are an important model for Aashukin’s regional review process.
Cree School Board
Doreen Blackned · Office of the secretary general
The Cree School Board delivers education in the communities of Eeyou Istchee and has governed research in its schools through a formal research policy since 2022. Proposed projects go through a formal review process supported by an in-house research committee, ensuring that research involving Cree students, educators and educational data respects the Board’s mission and community values. The CSB collaborates on and sponsors research, notably on Cree language and culture-based education, and brings the perspective of education — and of future generations of Cree researchers — to the Steering Committee.
Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute
Kathy Shecapio · Executive director
Aanischaaukamikw, the Cree Cultural Institute in Oujé-Bougoumou, holds a research mandate on Cree heritage, with active work in archaeology and Iiyiyuu Iinuu heritage. It maintains two formal research policies and review processes — one for internal research and one for external researchers — with a clear outline of expectations, responsibilities and data ownership. As the keeper of collections, archives and cultural knowledge for the Cree Nation, it plays a central role in how Cree heritage is documented, protected and shared. Aanischaaukamikw also hosted the March 2024 Forum on Research in Eeyou Istchee, a key milestone on the path to Aashukin.
Cree Trappers’ Association
Arden Visitor · Executive director
The Cree Trappers’ Association represents Iiyiyuuch Iinuuch hunters, trappers and land users, whose territories and knowledge are at the centre of much of the research conducted in Eeyou Istchee. The CTA conducts, collaborates on and sponsors research, guided by best practices built from its staff’s long experience working with researchers. It is currently developing its internal research capacity to address the specific needs of its members, and its members’ expectations of respectful, accountable research relationships helped shape Aashukin’s mandates.
Nishiiyuu Council of Elders
Dennis Georgekish · Board member
The Nishiiyuu Council of Elders brings the voice and authority of Iiyiyuu Iinuu Elders — keepers of knowledge, language and law — to the Steering Committee. The Council conducts research internally and evaluates proposed collaborations according to their expected benefits and their alignment with Cree values. The guidance of Iiyiyuu Iinuu Elders runs through Aashukin itself: the name Naanituuchischayitimuwin, meaning Research and Oversight, was proposed by Elders together with the Advisory Committee, and the protection and respectful use of Iiyiyuu Iinuu collective knowledge stands at the heart of the organization’s mandate.
Niskamoon Corporation
Ernie Rabbitskin · special project coordinator
Mélanie Leblanc · wildlife biologist
Niskamoon Corporation administers agreements between the Cree Nation and Hydro-Québec and funds community-driven environmental initiatives across Eeyou Istchee. It has maintained a formal research policy since 2023, with a well-developed project co-design process and strong internal research capacity, notably in coastal habitat and eelgrass research along the James Bay coast. Decisions on research projects are made by its board with the support of its staff. Niskamoon conducts, collaborates on and sponsors research, and is one of the funding partners supporting the creation of Aashukin.
Cree Nation Youth Council
Jade Mukash · Youth Grand Chief
Darius Neacappo-Pelchat · Deputy Youth Grand Chief
The Cree Nation Youth Council represents the youth of Eeyou Istchee — the generation Aashukin’s work is ultimately meant to serve. The CNYC took part in the consultations that shaped Aashukin, where participants called for Cree youth to be trained, employed and empowered as the next generation of researchers in Eeyou Istchee. Through Youth Grand Chief Jade Mukash, Deputy Youth Grand Chief Darius Neacappo-Pelchat, the Youth Council keeps youth priorities — training, capacity building and meaningful roles in research — at the centre of the Committee’s work.