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Elder denies mass meat wastage Johnnie Washie pays fine, but says he only one shot wounded calf near Hottah Lake
Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 9, 2013
HOTTAH LAKE
Johnny Washie says he only shot one calf and left it behind, but has taken all of the blame for the massive wastage of caribou meat near Hottah Lake last spring.
Johnnie Washie says he was charged for killing a caribou for someone else. |
Washie, 65, was charged with meat wastage and ordered to pay a fine of $575 by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR). He's the first and only person to be charged in the meat wastage incidents near Hottah Lake, 90 km northwest of Gameti. Parts of at least 50 caribou were found at 12 different sites near the lake by wildlife officers in April.
ENR spokesperson Judy McLinton said the investigation is still ongoing and there may be more charges laid. Wildlife officers suspect more than one individual was involved in the wastage.
A warrant for Washie's arrest was issued on Aug. 20 when he failed to appear in court to pay his fine. Washie paid the fine a week later. News/North called Washie at his home in Gameti for comment on the charges but was unable to reach him before he paid the fine.
Last week, Washie contacted the newspaper to explain what happened.
"It was getting slushy, it was getting bad," Washie said of the conditions that spring day.
"I left around five in the morning, from Gameti to Hottah Lake. I got there about two in the afternoon."
Washie said he saw five caribou that day and shot them all. By late afternoon, he was cutting up his caribou meat and getting ready to go home.
"Then I saw one wounded calf, just dragging its two hindquarters. It was wounded," Washie said.
The young calf was suffering, Washie said, so he had to kill it. He said somebody must have shot the animal and left it by the lake. Washie cut up the calf after killing it and left it where it lay, hoping the hunter would return to claim it.
"I had to shoot it and kill it," Washie said. "I got charged for that, for killing a caribou for someone else."
Unable to take the dead calf away with him that late in the day, Washie said he was forced to leave the remains at Hottah Lake.
"I had five caribou to my name. I thought maybe the hunter (who shot the calf) would come pick it up."
When asked by News/North for details of Washie's charges and what the evidence was that led officers to him, McLinton refused to provide answers.
"The person who received a ticket for meat wastage has paid the fine so this matter is now closed," McLinton wrote in an e-mail.
Washie, a Tlicho Dene elder, said he heard hunters from other communities were in the area this past spring and said he thinks they might have had something to do with the dozens of other caribou left behind.
"I shot one calf. I took all the responsibility," he said.
Washie, is a columnist for News/North and often writes about aboriginal issues and traditional practices.
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