First Nations advance protected area initiative
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Ft Providence (Jan 19/01) - A valued tract of traditional land, including the Horn Plateau, is now a step closer to reaching protected area status.
First Nations leaders from Fort Providence, Wrigley, Jean Marie River and Fort Simpson passed a resolution last week to protect the Mills Lake, Horn River, Willowlake River and Horn Plateau areas from development.
The area, known in Slavey as "Edehzhie" or "Horned Mountain" encompasses a land mass nearly equivalent to Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest province.
Ron Bonnetrouge, chief of the Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation, said the higher elevation of the Horn Plateau has traditionally provided rich hunting, trapping and fishing grounds for First Nations people. There are numerous burial sites there too, he said.
"In an October workshop when we had done our own mapping here with the elders... it really opened my eyes to the history of the area," he said.
Herb Norwegian, boundaries co-ordinator for the Deh Cho First Nations, said First Nations people had historically travelled to Edehzhie for sustenance during particularly harsh winters. There are many 75 to 80 year old tree stumps in the area where camps had been made, he said.
"It's such a spiritual place. It gives you a feeling unlike other places that I've travelled," said Norwegian.
He added that a number of harvesters from Fort Providence and Fort Simpson still hunt and trap in that area.
The First Nations' visioning statement signifies that aboriginal harvesting practices will be permitted to continue on the land. Bonnetrouge said the Canadian Wildlife Service was selected as a sponsoring agency partially because it consented to that wish.
"I've seen situations down south... where, even if you're native, you can't even hunt a quarter-mile from the water," he said. "That's the stuff we didn't want to have happen because we are, after all, the river people."
Norwegian noted that there are some abandoned gas wells within the area but no existing mining claims.
"It doesn't mean that the whole thing is a Lac de Gras (diamond-rich property) and we're trying to protect it. The (mineral) interest is somewhere else," he said.
Because there's no need for the four First Nations to work through revenue or benefits agreements, Bonnetrouge suggested that the co-management regime should not be problematic.
Edehzhie is about half way through the protected areas strategy. The First Nations are seeking support from other organizations to speed the process, Norwegian said.
