JACQUES KURTNESS, born in Mashteuiatsh, is a Piekuagamiulnuats. Ph.D in psychology from Laval University. From 1979 to 1999, he is researcher and teacher at University of Quebec in Chicoutimi (UQAC). His main interest concerns Cross-Cultural Psychology, allowing him to combine development in both psychological and anthropological fields. From 1991 to 1997, 1999 to 2003, Kurtness has been involved as chief negotiator for his Nation and as Regional Director, Negotiation and Implementation, for Government of Canada, Quebec Region. Since 2003, he is on Board of Directors of Dialog and other different research organizations working with Native People. He also has been very active in Geneva and New-York, participating to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Recently, with the anthropologist Caroline Hervé, he published Tshinanu (2004) at Laval University Press (PUL), a book about his career as Researcher, Chief Negotiator and Piekuagamiulnuats.