Meat from Cape Breton moose cull used to fight poverty in First Nations

[Thomas D'Arcy McGee]

Meat from Cape Breton moose cull used to fight poverty in First Nations

Meat from 35 moose killed by Mi'kmaq hunters in national park is being shared across the province

By Joan Weeks, CBC News Posted: Dec 08, 2017 5:24 PM AT Last Updated: Dec 08, 2017 5:24 PM AT

A Mi'kmaw scientist says a moose cull in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park is one of the best ways to fight food insecurity in the province's First Nations communities.

A recent study found that Indigenous communities have some of the highest child poverty rates in Nova Scotia, ranging from 40 per cent in Wagmatcook to 73 per cent in Eskasoni.

Clifford Paul, a moose management co-ordinator with the Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources in Eskasoni, consults on a Parks Canada project aimed a restoring the Cape Breton highlands boreal forest by reducing the number of moose feeding on saplings.

Since 2015, Mi'kmaq hunters have been allowed to kill a limited number of moose on North Mountain. This year they were allowed 35. Paul said the meat from those animals will feed many families.

"For families on social assistance, it's hard for them to just buy meat from the grocery store," he said, "so this contribution of 35 moose across the province is a big thing and it sure helps families with food security issues."

Paul said the moose meat is sent to all 13 Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia, but Eskasoni gets the lion's share because it has the largest population and the highest rate of poverty. He said the meat is healthier than anything found in grocery stores.

"There's no hormones, antibiotics," he said. "It's all clean. I would say it is a delicacy."

Derek Quann, the manager of the forest restoration project for Parks Canada, said the number of moose taken each year depends on the size of the local population and the health of the forest.

Thirty-seven moose were taken the first year and 50 last year. Quann said there will be a hunt next year but the number of moose culled has yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, Paul said contributions of Mi'kmaq hunters over the last few years "is the biggest dent that could be put against child poverty rates."

 

[Sakoman .308]

Great to see the meat will be used to help people.

 

[nomad 68]

Average cost to the taxpayer of this endeavour has been $11000-$12000 per moose taken. That is 122 animals over 3 years for a total of at least 1,342,000. This for something that could have been done through a draw hunt that actually would have generated revenue.

 

[ratherbefishin]

I am in favour of the meat being used to feed families but am at a loss as to why the cull cost taxpayers a dime...who authorises stuff like this?( a deer cull here cost taxpayers here $25,000 per deer...that's what happens when government gets involved)

 

[trevj]

I am in favour of the meat being used to feed families but am at a loss as to why the cull cost taxpayers a dime...who authorises stuff like this?( a deer cull here cost taxpayers here $25,000 per deer...that's what happens when government gets involved)

Average cost to the taxpayer of this endeavour has been $11000-$12000 per moose taken. That is 122 animals over 3 years for a total of at least 1,342,000. This for something that could have been done through a draw hunt that actually would have generated revenue.

Ayup.

That kind of money buys a LOT of hamburger. Or steak.

From a purely practical point of view, if that kind of money is what it is costing to do a cull or control hunt, I would just as soon they flew over, shot them, and left them for the other wildlife to eat.

Effin' ridiculous!

 

[Wendell]

...A recent study found that Indigenous communities have some of the highest child poverty rates in Nova Scotia, ranging from 40 per cent in Wagmatcook to 73 per cent in Eskasoni...

INFOGRAPHIC: Aboriginal population doubles in Nova Scotia
<http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1514697-infographic-aboriginal-population-doubles-in-nova-scotia>

INFOGRAPHIC: Aboriginal population doubles in Nova Scotia
ANDREA GUNN Ottawa Bureau Published October 25, 2017 - 7:40pm Last Updated October 26, 2017 - 1:18pm

Nova Scotia’s Aboriginal population has doubled in the last 10 years, the most significant increase in the country.
According to new census data released on Wednesday, there was an increase of 113.5 per cent in individuals identifying as Aboriginal between 2006 and 2016. In Halifax the number tripled. The total provincial population increase for that period was only one per cent.
In Nova Scotia, Aboriginal people represent 5.7 per cent of the population — higher than the national figure of 4.9 per cent. Nationwide, the portion of the population identifying as Aboriginal increased by 42.5 per cent between 2006 and 2016.
The data also shows that those identifying as Aboriginal in the province are notably younger than the rest of the population, consistent with the trend across Canada. In Nova Scotia, the average age of the Aboriginal population is 35.1 years, compared to 44 for the non-Aboriginal population. In Halifax it was 33.7 compared to 40.8.
Statistics Canada also released data on housing conditions, which revealed that 16 per cent of Aboriginals in Nova Scotia lived in a dwelling that was in need of major repairs, compared to eight per cent of the non-Aboriginal population.
According to Vivian O’Donnell, an analyst with Statistics Canada, there are a number of contributing factors to the increase in the Aboriginal population over the past decade.
Higher birth rates among Aboriginal Canadians and longer life expectancies likely helped drive the natural increase in the province as reflected in the age breakdown of the population, as well as a small number of people migrating to the province, O’Donnell said.
“When you see this level of growth you are talking most likely about an increase in people self-identifying,” she said.
This is especially true with the province’s Métis population, which has tripled to 23,310 since 2016, now making up 45 per cent of those in Nova Scotia who identify as Aboriginal.
Mary Lou Parker, grand chief of the Eastern Woodland Métis Nation Nova Scotia, said membership is growing every day. She credits a change in attitudes surrounding the Métis and Aboriginal people with an increase in individuals wanting to reclaim and learn about their heritage.
“People are finally becoming aware, not to be ashamed of who they are,” she said. “They’re embracing who they are.”
Tony Cunningham, chief of the Sou’West Nova Métis Council, gave a similar explanation.
“A few years back we knew who Louis Riel was but we would use the word ‘Indian’ or ‘half-blood.’ We only really started connecting to the heritage recently and really understanding more about what a Métis was, about our culture, and a lot of people want to learn their culture,” he told The Chronicle Herald.
According to the data, the number of Nova Scotians claiming Aboriginal identity is 51,495, but only 18,940 in Nova Scotia were considered “status Indians” under Canadian law in 2016. Of those with status, 59 per cent live on one of the province’s Mi’kmaq reserves and 40.1 per cent live outside.
Speaking on behalf of the Native Council of Nova Scotia — which represents the province’s Mi’kmaq who are non-status or live off-reserve — Roger Hunka said there are a number of reasons why an individual would choose to live off-reserve and relocate to an urban area like Halifax.
“It’s a matter of economics, education and employment. Younger persons are looking for jobs; good paying jobs, getting into the labour market generally means leaving a reserve,” he said.
But, Hunka said, the decision to live off-reserve comes with a trade-off — Mi’kmaq in the province who are not members of Nova Scotia’s 13 on-reserve bands are not included in the Mi’kmaq-Nova Scotia-Canada Tripartite Forum and do not have the right to be consulted over natural resource and environmental decisions, nor do they have land or hunting rights.
In 2016, the landmark Supreme Court Daniels decision extended federal responsibility to all Métis and non-status Aboriginal people in Canada, giving them the legal right to be considered “Indians” within the meaning of Canada’s 1867 Constitution. Despite the ruling there has been no change in access to health and education benefits, which would be paid for federally but doled out by the provinces.
Hunka said he is still waiting for movement by the provincial and federal governments to extend rights to off-reserve and non-status Mi’kmaq in the province.
“There’s a number of issues that need to be resolved and the only way they’re going to be resolved is for both the federal and provincial governments to sit down with representatives of the 13 bands and representatives of the Native Council of Nova Scotia to deal with (these) issues and that has been lacking,” he said.
Parker said her council has a meeting set up with the province in the coming weeks to discuss moving forward with the Daniels decision.
“We are fighting for recognition, especially to get recognition so our children can get proper education,” she said.
Owen Everts-Lind, lead negotiator with the provincial office of Aboriginal affairs, said when it comes to treaty rights, negotiations or consultation, the only rights-bearing Aboriginal collectives under law in Nova Scotia are the 13 Mi’kmaq groups who work though the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq chiefs in the province.
“It’s up to the federal government to determine how it’s going to implement the Daniels decision and whether programs that are currently available for status Indians might be extended to non-status and Métis people in Nova Scotia,” he said.
“That’s a federal government responsibility and like those groups, the province continues to wait in anticipation to hear whether the federal government is going to change any of its programs and services pursuant to the Daniels decision.”

<http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1514697-infographic-aboriginal-population-doubles-in-nova-scotia>

 

[black powder]

why not teach them how to HUNT moose so they can fend for them self ..i was always under the impression that the Aboriginal population were hunters long before the first immigrants landed in Canada ..