Region hosts modern Native hunting custom gŏđŏ
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“We just knock on doors and ask if we can hunt on their land. Most of the time, farmers will say “Yes,” but sometimes they say, “No.” They have different reasons. Some don’t want us on their land because it is turkey season. We don’t complain. I understand their reasons.”The chief observed:“We don’t waste anything. We eat everything but the feathers.” The down is used to stuff pillows and blankets. The Cree bring their own freezers. “When the freezers are full, we have to go home,” said Blackned, who hunts with his son and grandson. “We get about an average of 150 geese over the two weeks we are here.”The
meat will be shared among members of their community when they return to Was- kaganish. In the afternoon, the hunters scout out areas where geese are plentiful. “The next day, we get up at 4 a.m. and we are in the fields by 5:30 or 6, so we can beat the geese back to their spot.” The waterfowl season in this district lands in the Fall. However, the Cree can legally hunt here in the Spring because of tradi- tional Aboriginal hunting rights. Algonquin and Mohawk tribes in Ontario issue the visitors letters of authorization, permitting them to hunt in the Ottawa Valley.
RICHARD MAHONEY richard.mahoney@eap.on.ca
PLANTAGENET | While Spring marks the start of the migration of waterfowl in eastern Ontario, it also signals a 12- hour, 1,100-kilometre southward trek by members of the Cree nation of James Bay, Québec. For the past several years, native hunters have visited the region at the start of April to shoot Canada geese. For them, the long trek is worth it. “We don’t have the same population of geese back home as you have here,” explained Waskaganish Chief Gordon Blackned during an interview last week. “Awesome” is how one member of the hun- ting party described the hunt. Prescott-Russell, temporary home to countless numbers of the large birds, is a popular spot for the Cree. The natives travel to this district during the first two weeks of April, because the mega-hydroelectric de- velopment in James Bay has disrupted their traditional hunting grounds. “At one time, there were geese in abundance in James Bay. But things have changed a lot over the past 30 or 40 years,” noted Blackned. “The massive hydro project in the backyard of the Cree nation has diverted rivers and changed the eco-system. The migration patterns changed because of all the dams and the diversion of rivers.” The natives obviously enjoy their stay in the district. “Cree get excited when they see one goose. Here, there are a lot of them,” said Blackned. Local motels and farmers are also happy
Photos Richard Mahoney
Chief Gordon Blackned with one of the Canada geese he has shot during his annual visit to the region. to see the hunters arrive. “We book all the rooms here,” said Blackned, referring to the Motel de Champlain in Plantagenet. The Motel Rouleau in Alfred also houses the hunters, who provide a healthy economic injection into the region. “They love us here and they treat us well,” said Blackned, noting that management at both motels set up tents in their parking lots so the hunters can clean and dress the carcasses. The visitors receive permission from farmers to cull the large flocks that touch down in fields. Farmers are happy to see the hunters reduce the numbers of the hungry creatures that damage fields.
DianaSalt prepares agoose ina tent set upbesideMotel deChamplain inPlantagenet.
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