Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Snowdrift (Oct 14/02) - Rotting caribou and a pile of garbage were found following a Dogrib community hunt last month.

Two Akaitcho chiefs are calling for the resignation of a DIAND official they believe was involved in the hunt.

Many caribou carcasses -- without the meat removed -- were found near Indian Hill Lake, part of the territory that Dogrib and Akaitcho are presently fighting over. Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development is investigating the meat wastage.

Akaitcho Treaty 8 chiefs Archie Catholique and Richard Edjericon went to the site and found 14 dead caribou carcasses. Piles of garbage and empty booze bottles also littered the grounds.

An Air Tindi flight record shows the assistant regional director of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Lorne Tricoteaux, took part in the hunt. Rae-Edzo Chief Eddy Paul Rabesca's name is also on the record.

Both Akaitcho chiefs are calling for Tricoteaux's resignation. They say it's unacceptable for a high-end official at DIAND to be on a hunt where rotting meat and garbage was left behind.

Repeated phone calls from News/North to Tricoteaux were not returned by deadline. Mike Murphy, a spokesperson for DIAND in Ottawa said, "We're aware the matter is under investigation by wildlife authorities in the NWT. Because there is an investigation, there will be no further comment."

Another person on the flight record, Archie Black, confirmed the group was hunting in the area but said they cleaned up the site.

Reached at his home in Rae-Edzo, Chief Eddy Paul Rabesca said he was "not really" involved in the incident. Asked if the Dogrib hunters were responsible, he said: "That's what I heard, but I don't want to comment."

According to the Wildlife Act, the maximum fine for wastage is $1,000 and one year in prison.