Gold has arrived. Here in northern Ontario, the leaves are turning and we see vast streams of gold shimmering across the autumn landscape. There are flashes of red and brown as though a huge blanket has descended onto Mother Earth from the heavens. This is my favourite time of the year as it is not too hot or too cold and the wilderness beckons us to wander and wonder at the sights and scents of fall.
It was an extremely hot summer. There were terrible forest fires and many alerts of dangerous storms and even tornadoes in northern Ontario. Climate change is reminding us of the damage we have done to the environment. However, we are ruled by addiction to money and that means our governments and corporations will continue favouring the development that causes global warming.
This time of the year reminds me of the hunting trips I took as a boy. When I ventured to southern towns and cities for school and work, I found that there was also a huge fall hunting movement. I witnessed many hunters preparing by packing up guns, ammunition, supplies, boats and ATVs for trips throughout the North.
Most of the non-Native hunters were envious of Indigenous hunting rights and complained about being restricted to what they could harvest. Strangely enough, many non-Natives wanted these Indigenous hunting rights so bad that they began to organize and lobby the provincial and federal governments. Even more strange, these governments provided the Métis groups in northern Ontario many of the rights that First Nations were guaranteed in treaties more than 100 years ago.
The idea of Métis in northern Ontario is controversial. The Wabun Tribal Council in northeastern Ontario report issued a report this summer saying that there is no documented evidence of a Métis presence in their territory. A similar report was put out by the Saugeen Ojibway Nation and both documents are supported by the Chiefs of Ontario organization.
All this does not dismiss the historic, documented and recognized Métis Nations in Western Canada.
Those who could not convince governments that they could be Métis became best friends with many First Nation people, hoping to be invited on hunting trips. Just maybe they could get away with harvesting wildlife without going following the rules.
In my dad’s time, it was common to see wealthy people arrive from the south to hunt almost whatever they pleased. If they were questioned, everyone would point to their First Nation guide as their excuse.
What did this mean for Mother Earth’s creatures? A decline of moose, goose, duck and many other wildlife. As well, these trips too often feature a party mode with alcohol and drugs while out on the land with guns. Having armed hunters wandering the forest while consuming alcohol is concerning to say the least.
My people up the James Bay coast continue to head out in fall to their traditional lands to harvest moose, caribou and migratory birds. Further north, hunters and gathers travel out on their freighter canoes to traditional camps for the hunt.
I wish all those on their hunt a safe and rewarding adventure. I hope this is a time of bonding, good stories and recollections around campfires. I pray that people stay safe and take care of each other out on the land. More than anything I ask that the hunters take time to experience Mother Earth and all the beauty she has to offer us. I urge our hunters to respect the forest and the creatures they harvest.
Our creatures on the land have no voice, but I would ask you to give them one by being thoughtful about your hunt. Take only what you need and do not kill an animal just because you can do it. We need to respect the land and all the creatures If we want to continue with this traditional hunt experience and pass it down to new generations. We must make sure that we don’t end up causing the extinction of many animal and bird species. We need to be respectful to Mother Earth.