The Cree Nation Government is again calling for restrictions on the caribou hunt in Eeyou Istchee.
A report by Quebec’s Hunting, Fishing and Trapping Coordinating Committee (HFTCC) on the continuing decline of the Leaf River herd prompted the request, made in a December 23 press release. It showed that, despite the Cree making a similar announcement restricting the caribou hunt last year, the population continues to fall.
Over the holidays, Chisasibi Chief Daisy House gave a community address to outline the plan. “It’s just a friendly reminder,” House said. “We’re telling people to limit their harvest.”
Since the announcement, House said she has noticed a reduction in culling. But she estimates that over 100 caribou have been harvested by Chisasibi so far this season.
As a member of the Grand Council of the Crees, House said the goal is to implement a full moratorium for three years, but that would depend on discussions with the HFTCC.
One of her closest advisors on caribou is Chisasibi councillor Robbie Tapiatic, tallyman for CH32, the most eastern Cree trapline.
“I travel across Chisasibi territory because [my trapline] is way at the end where the caribou come in migrating from the north,” explained Tapiatic, widely known for his great snowmobile expeditions and knowledge of caribou. “I pretty much know what’s going on in the territory and beyond.”
Tapiatic said conservation is common among Cree who adhere to the traditional rule of killing only what they need for their family. However, he is troubled by social media posts showing community members over-harvesting for the purpose of selling caribou take-out plates online.
“That’s not traditional practice,” Tapiatic insisted.
Chisasibi Elder and tallyman Eddie Pashagumiskum, an expert on Cree tradition, said reducing hunting is worth a try. However, without solid evidence on what is behind the herd’s decline, it is difficult to pinpoint the best solutions.
“It has happened before in the old days, and we couldn’t do anything about it,” he explained. “It was not from hunting. It’s a part of the normal cycle. Nature has her own way of doing things.”
Raised in the bush, Pashagumiskum said the herd was at a low point in its population cycle during his childhood.
“There were no caribou to be found. We were out there 10 months a year and we survived from what nature provided like fish, beaver and rabbit. We were not dependent on the caribou,” he said.
Eventually the population returned to peak numbers of over one million. Pashagumiskum remembers the tragic killing of thousands of caribou when Hydro-Québec flooded vast territories constructing its reservoirs in the early 1970s, but even that he said barely had an impact on overall herd populations.
Tapiatic has been hunting caribou since he was a young boy and estimated he has harvested fewer than 30 caribou during his lifetime.
“It doesn’t make you a better hunter if you killed 300. A better hunter is one who knows how to conserve,” Tapiatic said, alluding to the harvesting practices of Indigenous Nations he chose not to name.
Tapiatic said he has suffered backlash from calling out individuals on social media for over-hunting – even receiving threats that his cabin could be burned down.
“Yes, there is a cycle, but we’re not helping by driving to the herds and killing them by the hundreds,” he stated. “Nations couldn’t do that in the old days; nobody drove in and killed hundreds. Now with powerful skidoos and GPS, hunters can go everywhere to harvest them.”
Chief House said her community is not only asking for restraint from its members, but they are also warning others that this year the caribou are strictly off limits.
“It should be very clear that hunting is for beneficiaries only. We’re telling other Nations not to come into our territory,” House said. “When people see photos of somebody harvesting and they see a whole bunch of them laying there, it’s almost like a slaughter in some people’s eyes.”
House said further discussions are needed between the Cree, Inuit, Innu and Naskapi on the CNG’s request for an official moratorium on caribou hunting.
Pashagumiskum warns that efforts taken to limit the caribou hunt should be implemented cautiously as the Cree harvest is a protected right under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.