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Traditional knowledge a priority in managing caribou, biologist told

Jeanne Gagnon
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 4, 2010

IQALUIT - Nunavummiut made their voices heard at the caribou strategy regional meeting in Iqaluit last week.

NNSL photo/graphic

Jayko Alooloo: vice-chairman of the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, said Inuit traditional knowledge has to be used for the caribou strategy.

Representatives from various hunters and trappers organizations, some HTO members, hunters, elders and government officials gathered in Iqaluit to discuss the draft caribou management strategy prepared by the territorial government.

The main points brought forward include a desire from the communities to have more control over caribou habitat and hunting areas and a desire to have the animal protected during sensitive times of the year, said Mitch Campbell, a Kivalliq regional biologist.

He added the communities want traditional knowledge to be a dominant influence on how caribou are managed across Nunavut and they want government to inform them on what it is doing and how.

"It's a consistent message ... that's what the strategy is going to be built on," he said. "The strategy has got to represent the people and that's the whole point of doing this. Without the people's comments, it's just a piece of paper."

Jayko Alooloo, vice-chairman of the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board and chairman of the hunters and trappers organization in Pond Inlet, said Inuit traditional knowledge must be used in the new caribou strategy.

"It's a really good discussion with all our HTOs, representatives from all our communities in the Baffin. They brought a lot of things. It's a really successful meeting," he said.

The Nunavut Department of Environment is seeking public input to finalize its draft caribou management strategy. People can comment in many ways, but three regional meetings, including the one in Iqaluit last week, were set up to gauge interest directly.

The public was invited to participate in the meetings, but in Iqaluit at least, only about half a dozen came, a point that did not seem to preoccupy Campbell.

"It's a testament to how the communities trust their leaders to go and collect the information. They have trust in the people that are in the HTOs to collect the information and get it back to the people," he said.

"I don't see it as a lack of public participation. I just see it as public trust in the HTO to do what they were elected to do."

The regional meetings are headed to Rankin Inlet this week and Campbell does not expect any surprises.

"What we'll see is people coming in, be very concerned and making sure that we hear what they have to say and that's expected. And there will be an expectation that we act on what people are saying," he said.

"There is no surprises. Anything we'll see in the Kivalliq will be because people care so much about the resource and they want to be heard. That's a positive thing."

A "few public observers" were at both the Yellowknife and Iqaluit meetings, said Sharina Dodsworth, acting manager of communications at Nunavut's department of environment.

"We are not at all discouraged by this because it allowed us to focus on consultation and engagement of HTO representatives, which was the primary purpose of this meeting," she stated via e-mail. "There are going to be plenty of other opportunities to engage a broader public as we continue to work on the strategy ..."

The strategy includes the 23-known caribou herds in Nunavut, including feral reindeer, but won't necessarily be implemented in every region of the territory as some sections are only relevant to specific herds or regions.

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