Culture
Yellowknives Dene FN recommends no-hunt buffer zone along winter road
'We have inherit and treaty rights and the responsibility to protect and sustain ekwo,' says YKDFN
The Yellowknives Dene First Nation has issued a policy statement on caribou harvesting on its traditional territory.
The First Nation says from time immemorial, it has honoured ekwo, or caribou, as “sacred relatives central to our identity and way of life,” reads a statement. “We have inherit and treaty rights and the responsibility to protect and sustain ekwo.”
It is recommended that no harvesting of caribou takes place within three kilometres of the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road, and there shall be no harvesting of caribou in the mobile core Bathurst caribou management zone.
YKDFN citizens may harvest caribou for personal, family and community use outside the mobile core Bathurst caribou management zone.
Other Indigenous harvesters are asked to notify the YKDFN Ekwo Guardians when harvesting on YKDFN territory, and take only what is needed.
Always treat caribou with respect. Don’t chase or waste caribou. Leave no garbage on the land or lakes.
“Protecting ekwo protects our culture, our community and the future,” states the YKDFN.
The Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road is a 400-to 600-kilometre, primarily ice-based, seasonal heavy-haul road, operating from late January to late March.
It serves as an annual resupply lifeline for diamond mines, transporting fuel, equipment, and materials over frozen lakes and land portages.
In December, the Tłı̨chǫ Government asked for help from harvesters to keep track of caribou populations along the Tlicho Highway.
As various caribou herds continue to encounter hardships, both natural and man-made, the Tłı̨chǫ government wants to make sure that their populations are kept at a level that can still be replenished.
To that end, they are encouraging hunters and harvesters to fully record and submit records of any game they manage to kill while out in the wilds.
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- (Image courtesy of Tłı̨chǫ Government)
