A First Nation in northern Manitoba is calling Métis harvesting rights into question.
In a letter dated Aug. 2 and obtained by the Winnipeg Free Press, the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) asked the province to terminate a 2012 agreement called the Manitoba Government-Manitoba Metis Federation Points of Agreement on Métis Harvesting in Manitoba.
The First Nation argues Métis cannot exercise their harvesting rights on NCN’s traditional land, land they say, overlaps with the MMF’s harvesting zone.
The community nestled in Nelson House, Man. is located about 800 km north of Winnipeg.
It’s currently under partial evacuation due to wildfires.
NCN Chief Angela Levasseur did not respond to an interview request from APTN News before this article was published.
Will Goodon, the MMF’s minister of Housing and Property Management, disagreed with the letter.
“It’s kind of sad that this has happened at this point when we need to be working together to show how Indigenous peoples, which includes Métis, that we are conservation-minded, that we do want to protect the future,” he told APTN.
The 2012 agreement, along with the corresponding map of Recognized Areas for Métis Natural Resource Harvesting, establishes where Red River Métis may exercise their harvesting rights in Manitoba.
However, NCN said they weren’t consulted before the agreement was put into force.
The First Nation claims there is no historic Métis community at Nelson House in a manner consistent with the Powley test – the 2003 Supreme Court case that informs the test–which is often used to determine the application of Métis rights.
Goodon, however, questions the letter’s interpretation of the test and definition of a community.
“Community is a word that can be used in many different ways. Was there a Métis community in that area? Absolutely. Was there Red River Métis who used the area to harvest? One hundred percent,” Goodon said. “At the end of the day, I think what we’re going to be getting at is how there’s not a hierarchy of rights in the Constitution.”
In a written statement to APTN, Jamie Moses, minister of Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources, said they are open to meeting with NCN and the MMF and are looking at ways to address their concerns.
Goodon said the MMF hopes to sit down with NCN and the province to chart a path forward.
As of Monday, Levasseur told the Winnipeg Free Press she’d yet to hear back from the province.
