[further explanation needed] Every year, a group of Cree youth from the village of Waskaganish, at the mouth of the Rupert, travel up the river to Lake Nemiscau.

The Rupert, together with the Nottaway and Broadback rivers, was initially considered to be dammed and diverted as part of the James Bay Project.

But in 1972, hydro-electric development began on the more northerly La Grande and Eastmain rivers, and the NBR Project was shelved.

A subsequent agreement in April 2004 put an end to all litigation between the two parties and opening the way to the joint environmental assessment of the diversion of about 50% of the total water flow of the Rupert River (and 70% at the diversion point) northwards to the Eastmain River and into the La Grande hydroelectric watershed.

The Grand Chief of the Crees, Matthew Mukash [1], elected in late 2005, opposed the Rupert diversion project, preferring the development of wind turbines in the region.