Sea Otter Hunt Raises Culture And Controversy For Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
In a move that puts traditional Native rights at odds with animal rights advocates, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribe of Vancouver Island is planning to reinstate sea otter hunts, after reaching a tentative agreement with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The deal will allow the members of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council to hunt roughly one per cent of the sea otter population in their territory on the central section of the west coast of Vancouver Island every year. Based on current figures, the take would amount to approximately 20 otters per annum.
Cliff Atleo, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, stated: "For us, it's not about the numbers. It's about reconnecting with the pelts worn by our chiefs, the heads of our governments," Council Member Keith Atleo said expects opposition to the hunt, especially since sea otters are known for their cute looks, but said the hunt is necessary to stop the sea otters from decimating sea urchin and shellfish stocks, which are a valuable source of food for First Nations communities and commercial fishermen. "We have a lot of cute children in our community that depend on the seafood, and we'd rather they have a good future. Sea otters have affected the balance in our food, traditionally and culturally," he said.
Sea otters were hunted out of existence in British Columbia during the lucrative fur trade between colonialists and West Coast natives in the late 1700s and 1800s. In the 1960s and 1970s, animals from the surviving population in Alaska were reintroduced to the B.C. coast. The otter population is now estimated at 3,500 and the species is now listed as "at risk," rather than endangered. The Nuu-chah-nulth otter hunt agreement still is awaiting final approval from First Nations leaders and the Canadian government, and the hunt is not yet scheduled.
I don't believe that it was BOTH the First Nations and the settlers who hunted these animals to near extinction, for several reasons:
1) The Nuu-chah-nulth culture is still very strong and thriving. I wouldn't be surprised if the idea to re-stock the sea otters came from them, but I'd certainly be surprised to find that credit attributed to them.
2) The buffalo and the Prairie Pigeon were hunted for purposeful extinction by the settlers with political motives. With the Prairie Pigeon, gamesmanship and rewards were given; NOT by the First Nations who depended on it for part of their food. However, the Prairie Pigeon is doing well, but the Passenger Pigeon is now extinct.
3) As recent as the 1950s, the RCMP destroyed hundreds of Inuit sled dogs with the claim that they were diseased. If that were so, why didn't the Inuit destroy them themselves?
4) These species were decimated with the intent of destroying the livelihood of the original peoples, thereby facilitating land surrenders under duress, and dependency, among a myriad of other corrupt alien government tactics both historically and in the present.
6) The first North American currency was wampum. It came from the northeast and initially served as a way to record agreements and tie in truth to oral understandings. On the frontiers, it was used until the mid-1700s. Silver money started to replace wampum, at the end of the 1600s. The Oneida nation has a Wampum Belt Fact Sheet, 1997, and the Vatican has one of the earliest belts, though not the Hiawatha Belt. The wampum itself was nearly hunted to extinction because it was 'money' in the eyes of the settlers and who looked to exploit, yet again; one avenue being through counterfeiting.
7) It should be noted that in thousands of years of co-existence, the seals, buffalo, and other animal food sources were doing just great, population wise under our First Nations’management. And I wouldn’t even call the fur traders ‘hunters.’ I’d call them ‘killers’ because that is what they did with zest. We gave & give thanks for these animals’ giving us their lives out of respect, something that initially lacked among Euro-Americans and Euro-Canadians.