According to the First Nation, wildlife officers helicoptered into a camp at Artillery Lake on Sept. 13 and spent hours searching family tents and teepees. They were investigating the illegal harvesting of caribou within a mobile no-hunt zone that follows the Bathurst caribou herd to protect it from hunters, given the incredibly low numbers of animals now in the herd. Larry Innes, a lawyer for the Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation, said the details of what happened are still emerging. “Officers reported that they had a tip that people were harvesting within the Bathurst caribou closure zone,” he said. “They then submitted a warrant and stated that they had the authority to search the camp for evidence of illegal hunting.” Timber Bay at Artillery Lake is located in Thaidene Nëné National Park. (CBC) The camp is about 150 kilometers from the mobile zone, Ines said. Harvesting companies used charter planes to access areas near the mobile hunting zone, but the First Nation has no information to suggest that harvesting took place within the mobile zone. He said officers went through every tent, cache and location where meat was stored in the camp and took samples of meat, hair and bones. “During this time, they explained that if anyone interfered with their investigation, they would be charged with obstruction and that additional officers were available to execute the warrant by force if necessary,” he said. No one has been charged yet, he said. The First Nation intends to challenge the validity of the warrant.
‘Significant’ amount of ‘waste of edible meat’
In a statement on Thursday morning, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Shane Thompson confirmed that officers had gone to the camp to execute a search warrant. Neither Thompson nor anyone from the environment department was willing to be interviewed. Thompson said officers found the carcasses of 10 caribou within the mobile zone and “a significant amount of suspected edible meat waste was found.” A photo taken by Environment and Natural Resources officials inside the Mobile Zone shows what ENR Minister Shane Thompson said was a waste of meat from caribou carcasses. (Submitted by Environment and Natural Resources) He said officers received two independent reports from members of the public on Monday about illegal harvesting. “Officers commenced a field search at the scene as well as a secondary location working under the authority of the Wildlife Act, with a search warrant,” he wrote. The department cannot share many details, he said, because an active investigation is underway. Thompson added that many wildlife officers with his department have lived in the North for a long time. “Caribou is important to them, the communities in which they live and work and to seniors,” he said. “Investigations like this are challenging. Mobile zoning is an important part of the collaborative conservation measures we are taking to conserve the Bathurst herd.” The Bathurst herd has declined from 470,000 animals in 1986 to around 6,200 in 2021.
“An extremely moving event” for the elderly
In a press release Wednesday night, Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation Deputy Chief Charlie Catholique said they are seeking a full explanation and apology from the territorial government. Iris Catholique, the Thaidene Nëné director for the Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation, declined to be interviewed. However, in the press release, he wrote that children were crying and elderly people were injured during the scene-by-scene investigation. “We are appalled that the GNWT would carry out what amounts to a violent invasion of our cultural camp,” said Catholic. Larry Innes, center, with Steve Nitah in a file photo from 2019. Nitah was the lead negotiator for the Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation in the creation of Thaidene Nëné. (Avery Zingel/CBC) “This was a completely unreasonable pursuit and an unnecessary violation of Aboriginal rights and our treaties. It reminds us that all talk of reconciliation and new relationships is just talk until there is a real change in the way we are treated by other governments on the ground.” Catholique described the investigation as a “serious setback” in the relationship between the territorial government and the Łutsel K’e people. Innes said the camp, which held about 80 people, is located in a former village of the Łutsel K’e people – a site of huge significance and importance to the families who grew up there. The raid took place in front of seniors, children and visitors from across Canada and the world, he said. “Shock and outrage only begins to describe the depth of people’s reaction to this,” he said. “For seniors who lived through a time where they were literally afraid of wildlife officers, before constitutional protections for Indigenous rights were implemented in Canadian law, this was an extremely energizing event.” Ines said he too was shocked by the raid, given the constitutional protections that exist against unreasonable searches and seizures of people’s homes. He said the area’s wildlife law defines the tents as homes. “I’m baffled. I can’t believe the police were able to get a warrant to search, essentially, an entire village, on allegations of illegal harvesting,” he said. “That would be like the police getting a warrant to search an entire community on the allegation that someone in the community may have committed a crime. It’s pushing the limits of what the law allows.” In his statement, Thompson said the government values its partnership with the First Nation and wants to continue working together to protect caribou. “ENR also recognizes and supports the importance of traditional land activities, seasonal hunting camps, cultural camps and traditional lifestyles,” he wrote, adding that the department “sincerely acknowledges” the First Nation’s efforts to conserve caribou .
