Jason Cook walked into the Nov. 21 recreation and community services committee meeting expecting to tangle with city officials on how to properly honour the legacy of his father, the late Henry Cook.
But while the committee seemed pretty receptive to his story and initiative, members of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) took issue with Cook’s claims about his father’s legacy.
Similar to what he told Nickel Belt News back in November, Cook used the first 10–20 minutes of the meeting to talk about Henry Cook’s status as a trapper and pioneer who worked side-by-side with the likes of Hugh S. Fraser to map out Thompson’s surrounding area before it officially became a township.
Following the discovery of a major nickel ore body near Paint Lake in 1956, the senior Cook allowed Inco (known today as Vale) to set up a large scale mining operation on his trapline, a project that eventually lead to the creation of Thompson as it’s known today.
Now, Jason and his brother Brian, who also attended the Nov. 21 meeting, are looking to cement their father’s legacy as “Thompson’s first resident,” possibly in the form of a plaque, a bronze bust, or a city street in his name.
“While this isn’t going to be resolved overnight, in the spirit of moving forward we feel that the acknowledgement of my father here in the mining town he had helped found on his trapline would be a step in the right direction,“ said Brian Cook at the tail end of his presentation.
The Cooks ran into some opposition from members of NCN, who attended the Nov. 21 meeting to challenge the Cook brothers’ claim about their father owning the land upon which the major ore body was discovered.
“Mr. Jason Cook alleges that his father, Henry Cook, was the founder of Thompson and that this was his land, which is, from NCN’s perspective, not true,” said Gord Dumas, co-chair of the NCN resource management board.
According to Dumas, the main source of their disagreement comes down to a differing perspective on what constitutes land ownership. While Jason Cook is using the Manitoba government’s Registered Trapline (RTL) system to stake his claim, Dumas said that the NCN’s use of the land around Thompson, including where the original ore body was discovered, predates European contact.
“Prior to the establishment of the RTL systems in the ‘40s this was NCN’s traditional territory,” Dumas told Nickel Belt News after the meeting. “Mr. Cook is coming at it from a trapline system perspective, and the traplines were created in the mid ‘40s.”
To hammer this point home, a number of NCN elders accompanied Dumas to this meeting. This group included Harry Spence and Jimmy Hunter-Spence, direct descendents of James Spence, who they say was one of the most prominent traditional land users in this area before the RTL system was put in place.
With that being said, Dumas claims they showed up to the Nov. 21 meeting to simply clear the record, and don’t plan on derailing Cook’s ambitions to cement his father’s name.
“Personally, I don’t have any issues with having a street named after him or a plaque,” said Dumas. “But the claim that this land belongs to his dad is totally false.”
However, since this is one of the foundational elements of his initiative, Jason Cook told the Nickel Belt News that he’s in the middle of consulting with his band at Pimicikamak Cree Nation to see if he can come up with any more documentation to back up his story.
“I’m trying to get some evidence to substantiate my case more and make it solid,” he said. “That’s what I’m working on right now.”
In terms of the city’s perspective, Mayor Dennis Fenske said the committee will review all the information that was presented during this meeting and keep both parties in the loop going forward.
“Certainly, NCN and the Cook family will be part of the next step of how we move this forward and, in respect of everyone’s history, how can we affect it accurately and honestly in order to recognize those that came before us.”
In the meantime, Fenske said that both parties are free to review the city’s tribute policy, which outlines the standard procedures and guidelines for naming streets, buildings, and other facilities.
The next step in this process will probably take place at the following recreation and community services committee meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 19.
