Between 1725 and 1761, the L’nu, also known as the Mi’kmaq, signed treaties of peace and friendship with representatives of the British crown. These treaties did not cede lands and included the right to harvest natural resources to support a moderate livelihood. These treaties have not always been upheld by the crown, as evidenced by the arrest of Donald Marshall Jr. in 1993 for catching and selling $787.10 worth of eels.
Marshall, who had been recognized in 1990 by a royal commission that identified racism as a factor in his wrongful imprisonment for murder, went to the Supreme Court to uphold his fishing rights. The 1999 Marshall decision affirmed Mi’kmaw treaty rights to a moderate livelihood from hunting and fishing. The Supreme Court clarified their decision later that year by stating that the treaty rights were still subject to government regulation.
In September 2020, the Sipekne’katik First Nation, frustrated by the lack of recognition for their treaty rights in federal fisheries legislation, launched their own self-managed lobster fishery with licenses for 350 traps. The seven small boats were met by commercial fishers in larger boats who harassed them, stole, or cut loose their traps and vandalized their boats. While the commercial fishers’ representatives cited conservation issues, many racist taunts were heard on the waters and seen on social media. The Sipekne’katik lobster fishery represents about 0.1% of lobster harvesting in their area, and their off-season harvesting is not considered to be a conservation issue by fisheries experts.
Similar conflicts have been happening in Mi’kma’ki since the Marshall decision 21 years ago, with federal officials and law enforcement failing to intervene in many cases.
The Union of National Employees (UNE) recognizes that we are all treaty people and encourages our members in the Atlantic Region and across Canada to uphold treaty rights. October is Mi’kmaq History Month.
Helen Zebedee
UNE Regional Representative for Human Rights, Atlantic