olcarcajou:

high-voltage-rat:

burndownthewhitehouse:

Sunday afternoon, dozens of non-Indigenous commercial fishing boats continue to surround Mi’kmaw fishers in St. Mary’s Bay, hauling up lobster traps set by the Mi’kmaq.

The Sipekne’katik First Nation launched its moderate livelihood fishery on Thursday in Saulnierville, a three-hour drive west of Halifax. In the days since, there have been confrontations with non-Indigenous fish harvesters on the wharf and on the water.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/TheAgentNDN/status/1307719891382931464
Quoted Article: https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/fishery-standoff-continues-mikmaw-owned-boats-gear-vandalized/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFYA7U0gLg9/?igshid=1u9i5by3lgebz

For anyone who may not know the whole gist and may not have the time to read an entire article- TL;DR the treaties of peace and friendship written in 1752 and again in 1761 and 1779 guaranteed fishing and hunting rights to the Mi’kmaq nations in exchange for settlers being allowed to live “quiet and free from molestation” in Mi’kma’ki. These treaty rights were reaffirmed by multiple supreme court cases since then, the most recent in 1999. 

Settlers claim that they are taking action to prevent “illegal and out-of-season” fishing. However, the fisheries being established by Sipekne’katik, and other First Nations across the province, are completely legal. Additionally, Mi’kmaq people have been the custodians of this land for generations before settlers landed- meaning (no shocker here) that they can be trusted to fish in a way that is respectful of the land and the species they’re hunting. 

Lastly, I should mention that the situation is escalating beyond intimidation- indigenous people are being denied service at gas stations and other small businesses. Fishers and their boats are being psychically attacked. Mobs of people have been breaking social distance laws to intimidate the fishers, their families, and most recently, people suspected of buying from them. Some people have even advocated for the re-enstatement of residential schools.

All of this is over 50 lobster traps- five fishing licences total. Clearwater, a Nova Scotian company, has illegally operated thousands of traps without this kind of pushback- because this is not about conservation or legality. this is about settlers wanting to suppress mi’kmaq people and their treaty rights. 

Greedy white people are forgetting that this eventuality was the compromise after Burnt Church, and now even that’s too much? Mikmaw can set 5000 traps if they want to. It’s their land, and their estuaries. Thousands of years, Mi'kma'ki was famous for its bounty, and after four hundred years of white people, it’s apparently so tight that whites are prepared to go to war over 50 lobster traps.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnt_Church_Crisis

(Source: juche-stoner)