Yellowknives Dene members plead guilty to harvesting charges

The Yellowknives Dene First Nation has dropped its fight against harvesting charges, as former N'dilo chief Fred Sangris and Dene hunter Paul Betsina changed their pleas to guilty in territorial court Tuesday.

Both have now agreed to pay fines.

Betsina was fined $460 for hunting caribou without a tag. Sangris was fined $230 for cutting firewood on Yellowknives Dene traditional territory without a permit.

The First Nation had previously said the charges went against its members' treaty rights and vowed to fight them all the way to the Supreme Court.

Sangris's case had been set to go to trial in December but his lawyer asked for more time.

In a letter to the court, Jim Jodouin stated he was under the impression that the Yellowknives Dene's rights under Treaty 8 would be treated as fact, and wouldn't need to be argued.

In the letter, Jodouin said the Crown changed its mind, and no longer agreed that Treaty 8 extends north of Great Slave Lake. Jodouin said because the territorial government was planning to fight those rights, he would need more time to get testimony from elders and centuries old documents.

Currently, the Akaitcho communities are negotiating a land claim with the federal and territorial governments.

In court Tuesday, Jodouin said since the Yellowknives Dene are already fighting for those treaty rights at the negotiating table, it didn’t make sense to do it in court at the same time.

Ted Tsetta, another former Yellowknives Dene chief who has also been charged with illegally hunting caribou, also appeared in court Tuesday. He says he plans to continue to fight his case in court.

A trial date for his case has not yet been set.