VanIsleCam
I see the argument, but don't think it takes away from the traditional part, wholly.
Each region/tribe, will have their own similarities and differences in what is "traditional".
For us (not speaking for others), a traditional hunt will happen firstly, in accordance with natural law. Certain ceremonies will be performed prior to the hunt, before if it is even decided if we should be allowed to hunt.
Offerings are made (we don't take without giving, first).
During the hunt, we live off the land. TeePees, or Tipis (whichever is preferred) are our shelter, or natural lean-tos. Not a TeePee you can buy at the store. Made by an elder who has been passed down the traditional skills and position to make such things, and given in traditional ways.
Animals are not just taken and killed. When we down an animal, there are rights, reserved for the hunters alone, where we consume some of the vitals, immediately, at the kill. To respect, and bond with the life that we take.
The entire animal is harvested.
When we get back, there is further ceremony to perform, and in the end, the animal which has been harvested is not kept by the hunters, but given to the community. Elders, the poor. Those who need it. Ladies who tan will take the hide. Bone and hoof will become regalia for traditional outfits.
That is just the nutshell overview. It is way more in depth than that little blurb. These are the ways it was done many generations before us, by those that left before us, and have left us the knowledge of these ways.
Not everyone does that. We take it quite seriously, and do it right, or not at all. Our kids and grandkids snare and trap, those wild foods are an important part of our diet, and way of life. The key being "wild".
That animal taken in the back bush quarter of the farm is a pet. Should not be taken.
Yes, we use rifles. We get to where we hunt with a truck.
Where did the modern things come from? How did the traditional people get them? What was bartered/negotiated for these modern things? Other than tribes in the deepest of jungles who have never had modern contact (good for them), no human on this earth should be relegated to live in the stone age. Progress happens. I still hear stories of when the whole tribe came to get their yearly allotment of bullets (as provided under the treaty) for hunting.
Our ancestors were smart when they negotiated the treaties. They were not thinking of themselves. They were thinking of the generations they would never get to see with their own eyes.
Those with the view that a traditional hunt has to fit the 60's Hollywood images of "traditional people", have probably watched a little too much television.
And there are those who just flat out abuse the rights as laid out in the treaties. I fully understand when there is outcry about that. We are trying to eliminate that within our communities, as well. We have a hard time with seeing that around us, and we work with youth, to try and get this whole mess turned around, before anything left of what is "traditional", is gone. The true traditional way demands respect for all living things around us. Not alot of us doing this. It is a struggle, but if we give up, then we have failed.
Many don't like us. The way we do things is hard work, and daily devotion to a certain way of being. They want the easy way.
The article states the hunters are using traditional territory. I don't know how it is that they intend to conduct the hunt. But I do know some people that live out that way, that are working to keep the old ways alive.
I can only speak for what a few of us do.
