Crystal Dorey, Communications Officer, KMKNO

The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs (Assembly) and the Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office (KMKNO) have received numerous complaints from our Mi’kmaw Harvesters about the dramatic number of ineligible hunters currently harvesting moose in the Cape Breton Highlands.

Community members have said that they have encountered Qalipu band members of Newfoundland and Métis have in the Highlands. There have also been social media postings by non-Indigenous hunters who are openly acknowledging poaching activities and offering meat for sale.

The Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia are the rightful holders of Treaty and Aboriginal Rights in Nova Scotia.

The Assembly has addressed this situation with the Premier of Nova Scotia and his Ministers. In their September 12, 2016 letter, the Assembly stated that “a ‘free for all’ will not be tolerated” and that there should be “an increased and visible enforcement presence in the Highlands….Enforcement Officers should be charging and seizing equipment from ineligible hunters”.

Recent court cases by non-Status and Métis are being misread and individuals have expanded these rulings to issues such as harvesting and rights-based natural resource access, which the cases do not speak to. The Assembly wants this addressed by the Province immediately.

“We have already been working with the Nova Scotia Departments of Natural Resources and Environment to develop a Moose Management Plan for Cape Breton,” said Chief Rod Googoo, Lead Chief for Lands, Wildlife and Forestry. “We must address harvest levels, and to develop a Mi’kmaq-controlled Harvester Identification system. Mi’kmaq are stewards of the environment and our resources must be respected and protected.”

Image courtesy of puttsk at FreeDigitalPhotos.net