'The fight's not over,' Pimicikamak chief says after urging non-Indigenous moose hunters to return licences

A northern Manitoba First Nation is urging licensed moose hunters to stay off of its traditional territory this fall after failing to have the court intervene before the first leg of the season.

Pimicikamak Cree Nation took out advertisements in the Winnipeg Free Press, the Opasquia Times and the Thompson Citizen over the weekend, which say it does not "provide consent or permission" for the use of any moose hunting licences issued by the province across its traditional territory this year.

Pimicikamak alleges the licences violate its rights under provincial laws, Treaty 5 and the 1977 Northern Flood Agreement. It asks all licence holders to "take personal action in the spirit of reconciliation" and return them to Natural Resources Minister Jamie Moses.

"We're hoping that, by taking out the advertisements, that [licensed hunters] won't come into our territory, and we're hoping that they'll respect that," Chief David Monias told CBC News on Sunday.

"The fight's not over."

Pimicikamak's ad appeared about a week after Manitoba Court of King's Bench Justice Brian Bowman denied the First Nation an expedited court hearing for an injunction application, which seeks a court order to quash the moose hunting licences and Moses's decision to issue them.

The ad cites a section of the Northern Flood Agreement — signed between five First Nations and Manitoba Hydro, Manitoba and Canada — which says the province encourages the First Nations to "achieve the maximum degree of self sustenance in food supplies" and that it will prohibit people who are not residents of the communities from hunting, fishing or trapping in the area.

The traditional territory of Pimicikamak, also known as Cross Lake, spans nearly 15,000 square kilometres and portions of four of Manitoba's game hunting areas, including two of four GHAs that were subject to a 75 per cent reduction in moose draw licences — which grant non-Indigenous hunters permission to harvest.

In July, the province approved a total of 100 moose draw licences in the four GHAs — down from 400.

The hunters who received moose draw licences in those two GHAs that intersect with Pimicikamak — 9A and 10 — can harvest in the area from Sept. 16 to Oct. 13 and Dec. 2 to Dec. 15 this year, according to the annual hunting guide.

November hearings

The Manitoba Wildlife Federation, which defends the interests of licensed hunters, has also taken the province to court over the licence reduction in the four GHAs. It filed an application on Aug. 12 for a judicial review of the decision, alleging it was not based on scientific data.

A two-day hearing has now been scheduled to consider both Pimicikamak and the wildlife federation's applications between Nov. 12 and 13, court records show.

In a Saturday newsletter, the wildlife federation said it disagrees with Pimicikamak's allegations in its ad, saying it creates confusion for hunters and is "counter to both reconciliation and the rule of law."

"Having put this issue before the courts, Pimicikamak should allow the judicial process to run its course rather than taking matters into its own hands," the newsletter says.

While Pimicikamak's ad says the First Nation told the province it does not recognize the moose hunting licences issued this fall, Monias says they have not heard back yet.

However, he says they have been working with the province on unrelated issues recently in light of the sudden death of Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick, a former Pimicikamak chief who died after collapsing outside of the Winnipeg law courts on Friday.

Monias says the province has been reaching out to Pimicikamak lately, as Merrick is expected to lie in state at the Manitoba Legislature before her funeral.

"I think that's really the focus right now, is trying to come to terms with our mourning and our grief, and trying to be there to support each other," he said.

"Maybe, you know, this is mending a relationship as well — bringing people together and in unity and so forth — and hopefully ... that extends on to other things."

Chief 'determined'

Even so, Monias says he remains "determined" to have the court uphold Pimicikamak's rights under the Northern Flood Agreement.

There were an estimated 487 moose in GHA 9A in 2014, and an estimated 346 in GHA 10 the year before, the province told CBC News on July 17. While Monias would like to see more recent data, he says Pimicikamak hunters are noticing a decline.

When he thinks about the future of northern Manitoba moose, Monias says he needs only to look at southern parts of the province where total hunting bans have been implemented in an attempt to reverse population declines.

Moose meat means a lot to Pimicikamak amid high food prices and increased rates of diabetes in the community, he said.

"We're just trying to ensure that our way of life and the wildlife [are] protected, but at the same time, available for our use."

CBC has reached out to the province for comment.