Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 22/99) - Last Monday morning, Kenny Hudson went hunting to feed his children.

And his children's children, and his children's children's children. And their kids too.

In what he calls "a test case," Hudson shot a moose in Wood Buffalo National Park. Frustrated by the inaction of government, the hunter says by forcing its hand, he hopes to accelerate the change in licence legislation.

"They've had 70-something years of denying us rights and they haven't done anything yet and they likely won't do anything in the future. So we have to do it," he said. "Let the people decide -- let a judge decide."

When Wood Buffalo National Park was founded in 1922, the Metis people North of 60 were no longer allowed to trap and hunt there. Hudson claims he and his ancestors were cheated out their right to put food on the table.

"To take away their traplines, their livelihood; that must have been pretty tough on those people," he said. "It would be just like losing your job. Imagine, you have no frickin' job and no income. That was basically what they did to those people -- stole their jobs."

"I've done my homework," he said, opening a briefcase stuffed with documentation of family lineage, letters and petitions from the period.

"I can trace myself back here to the 1800s," he said. "My great-great grandfather and grandmother lived in the Salt River area, so they were only a few miles from the Park border."

To qualify for a Park hunting licence, Hudson said you must provide proof that your ancestors had worked that land.

"Of course they hunted in the Park, they must have. We didn't have roads back then. The rivers were our roads and we travelled with canoes and dog teams," he said. "It's been recorded that people hunted as far as the Saskatchewan border."

Hudson said he has made hundreds of dollars in phone calls, written letters to government and has received little or no response.

"There has not been one goddamned letter saying, 'Ken, these are the steps we've taken so far in trying to resolve this and give you your rights back,'" he said.

In his effort to regain those rights, Hudson says he's prepared to stick it out to the high court, if necessary.

"It depends on how far they want to take it," he said. "If Parks is as sincere as they appear to be in restoring those rights, it shouldn't take that long. Why would they want to push it to the Supreme Court?"

"If they don't hear it from me, they'll frickin' hear it from my kids," he continued. "I'll teach them the same goddamned things I know and the same fighting spirit that I have."

Hudson has not yet been officially charged with any crime.

"We are still investigating the case," was the only official comment from Wood Buffalo Park warden, Adam Moreland.

Meanwhile, the hunter will check the wind and wait.