Lift N.W.T. caribou hunting ban, Dene chiefs demand

Dene leaders are calling on the Northwest Territories government to remove a ban on caribou hunting in the North Slave region, saying the ban infringes on their aboriginal hunting rights.

Chiefs with the Dene Nation are voicing strong opposition to the government's temporary ban on hunting for Bathurst caribou in a no-hunting zone that came into effect Jan. 1.

The no-hunting zone, which applies to aboriginal and non-aboriginal hunters, extends from the north shore of Great Slave Lake to the N.W.T.-Nunavut boundary, in the Bathurst caribou herd's winter range.

The government imposed the ban after surveys indicated the herd is in decline.

But the Dene chiefs, meeting this week in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., passed a motion Thursday demanding that the territorial government allow Akaitcho citizens — who are most affected by the ban — to resume subsistence hunting for caribou in the zone.

Aboriginal opposition to the hunting ban grew stronger after wildlife officials seized caribou meat from four Yellowknives Dene First Nation members who went hunting in the zone this past weekend.

Ban could become national issue

The Dene leaders have the support of Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo, who said he is willing to make the Bathurst caribou hunting ban a national issue, the CBC's Deneze Nakehk'o reported from Fort Simpson.

The chiefs have also passed a resolution calling on N.W.T. Premier Floyd Roland and Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger to explain the ban.

But instead of Roland or Miltenberger, the territorial government sent deputy environment minister Gary Bohnet to talk to the chiefs on Wednesday.

Bohnet told the Dene leaders that officials had consulted people and First Nations before imposing the ban, which he said is in place for conservation reasons and not to infringe on treaty rights.

Bohnet also said his department will provide assistance to communities most affected by the ban, such as by offering charter flights or gas money for affected hunters to obtain caribou meat in neighbouring areas outside the no-hunting zone.

Others question assistance plan

Environment officials have not said in what other areas they would encourage affected hunters to harvest caribou.

But some aboriginal leaders in other parts of the territory pointed out that their own caribou herds are also in decline.

"From information that we've received, both the Bluenose West and the Bluenose East [caribou herds], the numbers are down," said Frank Pokiak, chairman of the Inuvialuit Game Council in the Mackenzie Delta.

"So why would you harvest from a herd that's already declining?"

The Inuvialuit and Gwich'in peoples are entering their third year of a hunting tag system that limits the number of Bluenose West caribou they can harvest.

Pokiak said it means people in the region cannot hunt as many caribou as they could before, but most people have understood that it's a necessary sacrifice to help protect the Bluenose herd.

Management plan in works

Meanwhile, at least one Dene leader, Chief Alphonse Nitsiza of Whati, N.W.T., said he's concerned that leaders are focusing too much on treaty rights and not enough on conserving the Bathurst caribou herd.

"We know we have rights, but what good is rights when we cannot practice the conservation?" Nitsiza said Thursday.

The Bathurst caribou ban is a temporary measure, while government, Akaitcho and Tlicho aboriginal officials develop a management plan for the herd.

Tlicho leaders said Thursday that it originally supported the hunting ban as long as the territorial government started it on Feb. 1, and spoke to affected communities about it.

But since the government imposed the ban on Jan. 1, the Tlicho leaders said they do not support the ban in its current form.

Hearings on the management plan were supposed to be held in December, but have been postponed until the end of March, with recommendations expected to come out in May.

Earlier this week, Miltenberger told CBC News the territorial government could not wait for those recommendations to come out, so they enacted the ban before too many caribou could be taken during the winter hunting season.

"This is a deadly serious exercise. This is not something we're doing and not having thought it through, not recognizing that we have an emergency," Miltenberger said in an interview.