Hello, it has been a while since I posted because working in a COVID-19 testing lab during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a bit exhausting. I also have been busy finalizing my application for the NSF GRFP that was due this weekend.
I have been meaning to write a post on this topic for a while now, but hesitated because not being from Canada I did not have the knowledge or historical context to really speak on this topic before doing a lot of research beforehand. And First Nation people should of course be centered in discussions on this issue so this post is also a way to amplify their voices. As tensions have escalated this week however, I have become increasingly frustrated that I have not been as vocal on the issue as I would like to be. As someone who wants to study fisheries management and would like to work with Indigenous communities in the future, it is my responsibility to be informed on these things and denounce the racism that has been directed towards Indigenous fishers that are simply trying to exercise their treaty based right to fish. So while I cannot and (should not) speak on this specific matter not being Mi’kmaw or Canadian, I do want to talk a bit about the ways resource management and the conservation movement itself often exclude Indigenous perspectives, encroach on the rights of Indigenous people, and how that relates to white supremacy, as evidenced by the ongoing events in Nova Scotia.
I am also going to say in advance I am sorry if I spelled any words wrong, or any info in the next two paragraphs is incorrect, I tried my best to piece together all of the information I have read on this over the last couple of weeks.
A bit of background on the events in Nova Scotia: tensions have escalated in recent months between non-Indigenous lobster fishers in Nova Scotia and Mi’kmaq fishers (fishers is a gender neutral term to use instead of fishermen). The Mi’kmaq according to the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1752 have the right to hunt and fish their lands and establish trade. This treaty based right was further defined by a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that determined the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet have not only the right to hunt and fish in order to sustain their community, but also the right to hunt and fish in order to earn a moderate livelihood, including in the off-season.
Fast forward a bit to today, and non-Native fishers control over 99% of the lobster fishery in Nova Scotia. As a comparison, in St. Mary’s Bay the Sipekne’katik has issued 11 fishing licenses total that allow 50 lobster traps each. Non-native fishers on the other hand have 979 licenses that allow up to 400 traps each. However, non-native fishers have been directing violence towards First Nations fishers as an act of “protest” in the name of conservation. Blatantly racist attacks towards Indigenous fishers such as cutting lines, shooting flares at boats, and denying services to Indigenous fishers have escalated this week to threatening to set fire to a lobster pound while to First Nations men were inside, unless they turned over their catch. This resulted in the RCMP doing absolutely nothing, and thousands of lobster being either stolen or soaked in toxic paint thinner. A van was set on fire, and I think I saw an image of a boat that had been destroyed, and the lobster pound itself was later set on fire.
(All of the information above came from @AgentNDN on Twitter and @Kukuwes)
This is not a conservation issue. This is not a lobster issue. This is a violent act of white supremacy meant to intimidate and harm Mi’kmaq fishers so that they do not practice their right to fish and hunt their own ancestral land. This is not an isolated incident either. Similar encroachments on Indigenous fishing rights have occurred in the Great Lakes regions, the Pacific Northwest, and more. In addition to the violence in Nova Scotia, the Algonquin of Barriere Lake have established a moratorium on moose hunting for sport in order to protect the moose population in Quebec. They have faced threats and intimidation from non-native hunters as well, but protecting the moose is vital to the preservation of Algonquin traditions, culture, and way of life. I could spend all day listing the times non-native people have attempted to stop Native people from exercising their rights to hunt, fish, and manage their own land.
It makes my head hurt to think of the illogical arguments used by non-Native people to justify the violence towards Native people exercising their rights. If non-Native people were truly concerned about conserving lobster they would not be pouring chemicals onto live animals. If they truly cared about the environment, they would look in the mirror and realize they have been stripping the land of its resources at an unsustainable rate for profit for far too long. People committing these violent acts on Indigenous people either do not know the history, the law, and the science that supports the First Nation fishers, or they willfully choose to ignore it in favor of greed and violence. I’m going to guess the latter.
The law states that Mi’kmaq fishers have the right to a moderate livelihood. Where is the disconnect occurring? Why does the blame for unsustainable harvesting of resources fall on the back of Indigenous people when the problem lies in the settler colonial, capitalist state that promotes over-consumption and over-harvesting of resources. Indigenous people have practiced sustainable harvest for thousands of years, and managed the land and waters of this continent since time immemorial. Why then, do they get pushed out of discussions of conservation and resource management?
A lot of this I have discussed in previous posts so I will be brief here. A false narrative of Indigenous people being unsustainable and ignorant of proper land stewardship has been perpetuated for centuries. When white hunters deliberately decimated the bison herds of the Great Plains in a violent attempt to eradicate Indigenous people, the finger was pointed to those same Indigenous communities that relied on bison for survival. As white people decimated forests across the United States and Canada for timber, the finger was once again pointed at Indigenous people who utilized controlled burns and other forest management strategies that did not fit European ideas of proper land management.
The conservation movement is so white washed that Indigenous people really have no place in it, unless it is to be a tokenized Disney-esque stereotype of “living in harmony with nature” that remains locked in an imagined pre-colonial history. White veganism specifically has often criticized Indigenous people that practice their traditional ways of life that include hunting, fishing, and harvesting of other animal resources.
Colonialism and capitalism has put our world in the situation it is in now. The overharvesting of natural resources, mismanagement of land, unsustainable agricultural practices, pollution, dependence on fossil fuels, etc., is the result of the colonial mindset of taking all the land has to offer until nothing is left. This is violence against Indigenous people. The blaming of Indigenous people for these problems is objectively wrong, and a violent act of erasure. Preventing Indigenous people from living traditionally, even in the name of conservation, is white supremacy and cultural genocide. The management of our lands and waters must at the very least include Indigenous perspectives, uphold Indigenous sovereignty, and protect Indigenous ways of life. A step further than this would be restoring the responsibility of managing land and resources to Indigenous people, because they have a deep connection with the land and wealth of traditional ecological knowledge that the settler colonial state cannot even begin to comprehend.
Please read more on this topic to stay informed, and please find other ways to support Indigenous land protectors, fishers, and hunters whether that is through monetary donations, political action, etc.
For more information please follow these accounts:
Twitter:
@agentNDN (has more accounts to follow in pinned tweet as well as other action items to support Mi’kmaq fishers)
@Kukuwes
@Mikmaq_star
@ArnallLabrador
@mgoogoo
@amberblueskye
Check out Jesse Benjamin’s blog post: https://www.melgignatfit.com/post/why-do-you-hate-us-so (She also sells really cool masks on her website!)
Also check out https://teespring.com/stores/ijotikak All proceeds this month are going to support Mi’kmaq fishers.
Learning How to Science 