Meat wastage case goes on trial
'My sled was full and what was left was their meat,' hunter says of defendants
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 8, 2014
BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO
A key witness in a meat wastage case against the chief of Gameti and two other hunters says he saw the three men leave behind caribou meat from more than 15 animals while travelling on Hottah Lake in April 2013.
A meat wastage case against Chief David Wedawin and brothers Frank and Jimmy Arrowmaker got underway last week in Behchoko. The men are accused of leaving behind caribou parts during a hunt, including 25 front shoulders and two intact carcasses in April of last year. This photo, which is included as evidence in the trial, shows wildlife officer Ian Ellsworth with some of the meat he and fellow officer Leroy Andre found on Hottah Lake. -
NNSL file photo |
Chief David Wedawin and brothers Frank and Jimmy Arrowmaker are standing trial on 12 counts of meat wastage for leaving behind parts of a caribou, including 25 front shoulders and two intact carcasses in April of last year.
Hunter Leon Wellin spent two days on the stand at the Behchoko Community Centre, where he told the court he was heading out to hunt with two other hunters on April 21 when Frank Arrowmaker rode up to them on a snowmobile and told them they had already shot lots of caribou on Hottah Lake.
Arrowmaker proceeded to ask Wellin if they wanted to follow him to the kill site to take some of the meat, he said, speaking through a Tlicho interpreter.
Upon arriving at the site, Wellin said he saw Wedawin and Jimmy Arrowmaker butchering caribou. Frank Arrowmaker joined them soon after. When asked how many caribou carcasses he saw that day, Wellin told the court he did not know the exact number but there were more than 15.
"They were already cutting up the caribou so it's hard to say how many they killed," he said.
Wellin told the court Wedawin and the two Arrowmakers left the site later that day with sleds full of caribou meat. Before they left, Jimmy Arrowmaker told Wellin to "clean up the site," the witness said.
Wellin told the court he butchered a total of six caribou over the course of two days and that he brought the meat back to Gameti.
Wellin testified that he ended up trading four of the caribou for a boat motor in Whati, while keeping the other two for himself and his family. It is illegal to barter with caribou under the NWT Wildlife Act.
Through two days of testimony, defence lawyers repeatedly asked Wellin why he only took six caribou even though he was told by Jimmy Arrowmaker to clean up the site. No matter how the question was phrased, Wellin answered over and over again that he took as much meat as he could carry but that there was too much meat to clean up.
"I did clean up after myself but (Wedawin and the Arrowmakers) didn't clean up after themselves," Wellin said at one point.
"My sled was full and what was left was their meat."
As he continued to be grilled by the defence lawyers over what he understood what "cleaning up the site" to mean, a visibly frustrated Wellin asked the courtroom why no one was asking him whether Wedawin and the Arrowmakers had been drinking.
"When I met up with the three of these men they were drinking. What am I supposed to say?" said Wellin. "How come there are no questions about alcohol?"
A photo showing an empty bottle of vodka lying in the snow next to some of the caribou meat was included as part of the Crown's evidence. Shortly after Wellin made his comments he was excused from the stand.
Wellin is the only witness to testify so far that he had seen Wedawin and the two Arrowmakers at the kill site. The prosecution is hoping to call the other two hunters who were with him to the stand at a later date.
Five witnesses have so far presented evidence to the court to this point, including wildlife officers Leroy Andre and Ian Ellsworth.
Andre, who is based in Deline, came across the kill site at the south end of Hottah Lake after receiving reports of meat wastage in the area on April 23.
When he came across the kill site, he said he saw Wellin and another hunter butchering the caribou. After taking some photos, Andre, who was with two other hunters who testified, left. When they returned to the site later on that evening with Ellsworth, Andre told the court he found it abandoned so he took more photos and turned over the meat so the hair was facing upward to prevent it from spoiling. He did not collect any physical evidence and was unable to find any shell casings. Afterward Ellsworth continued to monitor the site off and on until April 28.
After Andre gave his testimony regarding the quality of the meat, the Crown and defence both agreed to admit there were edible parts of 12 caribou left at the kill site and that "all these parts were fit for human consumption."
Seats at the community centre were often full during the two-day trial, filled with people of all ages.
The sheriff had to bring in more seats on the second day to accommodate the crowd. Monfwi MLA Jackson Lafferty also sat in for part of the proceedings Dec. 4.
The case was adjourned that day due to scheduling conflicts. It is expected dates for trial resumption will be announced in Yellowknife territorial court on Dec. 16.
