SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknives chiefs signed an historic agreement on Thursday, one which Ndilo chief Ted Tsetta said averts an Oka-like crisis - referring to the famous standoff between Mohawk warriors and the Canadian Army in Quebec twenty years ago.

Striker Overly, co-owner of Alaska Arctic Adventures in Tok, Alaska, poses with a caribou he hunted while guiding in 2009. The Alaskan outfitter is offering a two-for-one deal for hunters who lost bookings for barren ground caribou hunts in the Northwest Territories. Received June 15, 2010 - Photo courtesy of Alaska Arctic Adventures

"Other First Nations can learn from us. We did not want to create another Oka. We can stand side by side and work together," said Tsetta.

The signing, which took place in Ndilo, is between the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and the territorial government. It will limit the number of Bathurst and other caribou herds that can be hunted over the next two years.

At the signing, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael J. Miltenberger, said "it's a good day for the caribou and its a good day for the people of Ndilo and Dettah." He said he was pleased that through the goodwill of both sides an agreement could be negotiated to protect the caribou.

After the signing, Dettah Chief Ed Sangris said the agreement was positive in that it will help protect and restore the caribou population, but he also indicated the agreement wasn't ideal.

"We're not completely happy, but we don't want to go through what we went through last year when we were getting our meat seized. So, (the agreement) is to prevent that."

Tsetta agreed the deal was a good "first step" to protect the caribou.

"I think it's enough for now to start with, the numbers are low so we have to be really careful how much we take. One-hundred and fifty in the no-hunting zone for Bathurst caribou is a good number because we can still take Bluenose and other caribou that come into the no-hunting zone," he said.

But Tsetta also stood by his remark that this incident had the potential to become another Oka-like crisis.

"When you don't work with the First Nations, you just go into their territory and you start playing with the laws and you try to play 'your rules against theirs' - our rules is our treaty and we're the sovereign territory right here in our territory," he said.

"If it wasn't resolved, it would have because our elders and our membership will stand up (for) our rights and our treaty at any given time at all cost. This is our territory - this is our homeland. And if anyone wants to come in and do things without accommodating or consulting with us, we will stand up."

An interim ban by the GNWT on Bathurst herd caribou hunting took effect on Jan. 1 after it was revealed in a population study that the number of Bathurst caribou had declined drastically to 32,000 in 2009 from 120,000 in 2006.

Under the agreement, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation can harvest 50 Bathurst caribou from the "no hunting management zone," a 120,000 square-km area north of Yellowknife, during the fall community hunt "using (their) best efforts" to harvest 40 males. During the mid-winter hunt from December to April, the First Nations group may hunt 100 Bathurst caribou from the no hunting management zone, once again "using (their) best efforts" to harvest mainly bulls, preferably 80.

The agreement also stipulates that up to 200 "other barren-ground caribou" such as those from the Ahiak and Bluenose-East herds may be harvested in the no-hunting management zone and the Chief Drygeese Area - 50 of which can be killed during an annual supplemental fall community hunt.

The two sides will also form a joint committee called the Ekwo (Tech'adi) Committee which will monitor the population and health of the caribou. The committee will include seven members from the Yellowknives Dene.

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