mi'kmaq fishing treaty

4 See L. Jane McMillan & Kerry Prosper, “Remobilizing netukulimk: indigenous cultural and spiritual connections with resource stewardship and fisheries management in Atlantic Canada” (2016) 26 Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 629 at page 638. This is a treaty right recognized by the Supreme … The launch date, September 17, 2020, marked the twenty-first anniversary of the SCC’s first decision in R v Marshall—the historic decision which held that Mi’kmaq have a treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood through fishing. The opposition by settler fishers is wide of the target and ludicrous. Settler fishers and others opposed to Sipekne’katik First Nation’s fishery responded with protests, and some committed acts of violence, vandalism, theft, and … Rather than leaving the burden on Mi’kmaq to prove that they are exercising their rights legally and legitimately, settler treaty persons should be demanding that the Government of Canada prove the legality and legitimacy of the regime it wishes to impose. What does all of this mean for settler treaty persons who want to encourage just treaty relations in Mi’kma’ki? A few paragraphs later, the SCC went on to interpret section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982— which “recognized and affirmed” the Aboriginal and treaty rights of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of Canada—by stating: “Rights that are recognized and affirmed are not absolute”. There is no poaching and no evidence that the Mi’kmaq fishery will create a sustainability issue. In response, the Mi’kmaq argue that their treaty rights grant them permission to fish during this time. For me, as a settler person living in K’jipuktuk (Halifax)—which is one small part of Mi’kma’ki, the large, unceded, and unsurrendered territory of the Mi’kmaq—being a treaty person means several things. Curtis Bartibogue, a Mi'kmaq lobster fisherman who was arrested by Department of Fisheries and Oceans officers during that earlier unrest, said public knowledge of treaty … For another, oral agreements, terms, and understandings not reflected in the written text of the treaties are integral to treaty interpretation as well. We propose to expand our fishery on an experimental basis and to monitor and report catches to see if any adverse consequences are likely. At the same time, the DFO appeared to be prioritizing engagement with Mi’kmaq rather than enforcement, and reports indicate that the ongoing discussions have been positive. In doing so, the Court implicitly framed Canada’s constitutional protection of Aboriginal and treaty rights as a kind of concession to Indigenous peoples—one that preserves some of their rights, up to a certain point, while also maintaining Canadian legal control. On September 17, 2020, Sipekne’katik First Nation, a Mi’kmaw Indigenous community in Nova Scotia, established its own Mi'kmaq-regulated, rights-based lobster fishery in St. Marys Bay. Peace and Friendship Treaties signed in 1760-61 by the Mi’kmaw people and the British government clearly stated they would live peacefully and trade with only the British, having nothing to do with their enemies. 1 Many written resources on the Peace and Friendship treaties are accessible through Nova Scotia’s public library system, including: Mi’kmaq Treaties on Trial: History, Land and Donald Marshall Junior, by William Wicken; Living Treaties: Narrating Mi’kmaw Treaty Relations, edited by Marie Battiste; Mi’kmaq Fisheries: Netukulimk: Towards a Better Understanding, produced by the Union of Nova Scotia Indians and the Native Council of Nova Scotia in cooperation with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans; and The Mi’kmaq Treaty Handbook, produced by the Mi’kmaw Grand Council, the Union of Nova Scotia Indians, and the Native Council of Nova Scotia. The Provincial Court of Nova Scotia rejected the treaty rights defence and entered a conviction, and that conviction was soon upheld by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. It was in R v Sparrow that the SCC first recognized an Aboriginal right to fish for what the DFO now calls “food, social, and ceremonial purposes”. The Mi’kmaq celebrated by going fishing, setting out in small boats with a few lobster traps to access a lucrative resource they had been historically denied. Since the Marshall decisions, the DFO has been treating the Mi’kmaq like unexpected guests who showed up halfway through dinner and need to be squeezed in at the table and fed even though most of the food has already been dished out. Settlers in this territory should find that treatment as unacceptable as the hostility, violence, vandalism, theft, and rampant racism to which Mi’kmaq have been subjected over the past two weeks, and we should denounce it just as clearly. Treaty education opportunities are also available in real time where Mi’kmaw Elders, knowledge holders, scholars, and educators offer teachings to the public through ceremony, speeches, presentations, panel discussions, webinars, or other means, and attending such events when invited creates great opportunities to learn. Augustine said the commercial fishermen are upset because of the Indigenous fishermen fishing out of season even though treaty 1752 makes this legal. Mi’kmaw decisions to fish outside of the DFO’s regulatory regime are one method of challenging the constitutionality of restrictions that the DFO has put in place and pressing the DFO to prove that those restrictions are lawful. These are simple realities of our situation, but they are realities that many Canadians inhabiting Mi’kma’ki refuse or find difficult to accept. The convicted Clearwater firm is CS ManPar, which was found to have stored 3800 lobster traps on the ocean floor for two months in 2017. Yet military personal and vehicles are being ushered in and local settler fishermen are still making threats, all because the Mi’kmaq simply wanted to exercise their Treaty rights. In 1994, Donald Marshall Jr. stood trial for three alleged violations of the Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations, enforceable under the federal Fisheries Act. Some settler fishers have voiced displeasure and frustration with the DFO’s response, seeing it as a failure to enforce the law and conserve a vulnerable and valuable resource. As conflict developed in response to the launch, federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan issued a statement which emphasized that fishing without a DFO licence violates the Fisheries Act and is subject to enforcement. The Mi’kmaq signed Peace and Friendship Treaties in the mid 1700s and these treaties never ceded land. The significant role that oral terms play in treaty interpretation has been recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC”) and is now entrenched in Canada’s constitutional common law. Mi’kmaq Fisheries Via Treaty Rights Under Attack In Nova Scotia "This fall, the Sipekne’katik First Nation has pressed ahead with off-season lobster fishing despite racist rhetoric and vigilantism that the RCMP has been criticized for failing to stop. Historic Treaties between the Mi’kmaq people and the British Crown were meant to be based on an ongoing relationship of peace and friendship. The colonialist repercussions of R v Sparrow and their impact on the Marshall decisions are not the end of the story, however. The Supreme Court found that he has treaty rights and that all Mi’kmaq have treaty rights,” said Bailey. The Mi’kmaq decision to launch their own fishery is an assertion of their treaty rights in the face of government inaction. When the SCC considered the Mi’kmaw rights assertions that were presented in R v Marshall, it adopted the same approach that it took in R v Badger and held that the justification analysis conducted in R v Sparrow applied. This decision came after 268 years of federal government refusal to honour the 1752 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which guaranteed the Mi’kmaq right to earn a “moderate livelihood” from hunting and fishing. These number 1500 at 300-350 traps each, or about 487,500 lobster traps in total. With that in mind, I encourage settler persons who want to learn more about the treaties not to rely on the written treaties alone, but to make use of many resources that are available.1, Supporting Mi’kmaw Moderate Livelihood Fisheries. 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