No hunting, no fishing, no trapping: no deal – Business in Vancouver

March 24, 2015

Treaty 8 infringement claim could halt Site C, natural gas activities in B.C.’s northeast

When the ancestors of the Blueberry River First Nation near Fort St. John reluctantly signed Treaty 8 in 1900, they were unequivocal: they would surrender their rights to the land only if they were guaranteed the right to continue to earn a living from it through hunting, fishing and trapping.

Several commissions and Indian agent reports from 1900 onward reaffirmed that unwavering stance.

“It seems clear that Treaty 8 would not have been signed if the Indians had not been assured that their traditional economy and freedom of movement would be guaranteed,” Dennis F.K. Madill wrote in a 1986 analysis of the treaty for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Read More: http://www.biv.com/article/2015/3/no-hunting-no-fishing-no-trapping-no-deal/