On Thursday, Feb. 29, Métis Elders Kenny Hudson and Earl Evans were temporarily denied access to the Taltson winter road, but a spokesperson from the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) contends there was no intention of depriving the pair of their Indigenous hunting rights.
The road, which runs to the east of Fort Smith and is owned by NTPC, opened on Feb. 28. The following morning, Hudson and Evans set out to hunt moose on the surrounding land.
As they advanced down the road, they passed a truck owned by Rowe’s Construction, a firm that the power corporation contracted to work on the route. The truck allegedly followed them, turned on its light bar and stopped the pair, and later called a large plow from farther down the road to create a blockade.
“We pulled aside [for the truck] and [the driver] opened the window and said, ‘Where are you guys going?’” Hudson recalled. “I said, ‘We’re just going hunting.’ He said, ‘Oh no you’re not. You can’t go down this road.”
“I told him, ‘You know it’s illegal to interfere with Aboriginal harvesters.’ He says, ‘You’re not going anywhere,’ and pulled right in front of us across the road.
“He knew the snow Cat was up ahead a couple of corners, I guess, so he radioed the snow Cat to come back, and then that snow Cat pushed a big berm across the road.”
From there, Hudson and Evans poured themselves some coffee and “started making some calls” in hopes of resolving the situation. After trying a number of local and territorial leaders, they connected with NTPC, who requested that the pair head back to town to collect a radio before heading down the Taltson road.
Doug Prendergast, a spokesperson for NTPC, confirmed that Hudson’s account of things was “pretty close” to the power corporation’s understanding of the situation.
“There were two hunters who felt that they were unfairly stopped from advancing on the Taltson winter road on Thursday [Feb. 29],” Prendergast said. “They wanted access to some of the traditional hunting grounds, which absolutely is within their rights. The contractor had some safety concerns because of the fact that the road had just officially been opened the day before. It met all the technical specifications to open, which is why it was announced that the road was open, but it was suggested that people not necessarily take the road.
“It is a narrow one-lane road, and there was traffic of larger vehicles moving material in and taking material out of the site, so it really was just a safety concern. There was no intent to prevent the hunters from accessing traditional lands.”
Prendergast confirmed that there were “a couple of options provided” to Hudson and Evans, including “an offer to provide a radio so that they could communicate with the operators at Taltson.”
“That actually ended up being the solution at the end of this,” he said. “So it was a bit of a misunderstanding. The contractor was concerned about safety of both the people travelling the roads as well as his workers who were working farther along the road, but as soon as NTPC became aware of the situation, we spoke to both parties and were able to resolve the situation.”
Hudson said he and Evans spent over three hours trying to rectify the situation, and by the time it was resolved, had lost much of the day they had intended to spend hunting.
Overall, he found the incident quite disheartening.
“I’m 74, Earl is 71,” he said. “We’ve been hunting this country all our life. You know, it ruins your whole day [when something like this happens].”
Hudson also remarked that some contractors might not have an adequate understanding of Indigenous peoples’ hunting rights in the NWT.
“They shouldn’t be learning this stuff on the fly,” he said. “This should be stuff they’ve known for years at this point.”
Rowe’s Construction didn’t have anyone available to comment on the situation.
Prendergast acknowledged “it is possible” there is some confusion on the subject among some contractors, but added that he doesn’t believe that was the case in this incident.
“When we made it clear to the contractor that the hunters did have rights to access their traditional land, [the contractor] acknowledged that and emphasized the fact that this was a safety concern,” he said.
Prendergast also noted that NTPC makes great efforts to maintain an open line of communication with Indigenous people.
“I can only speak for NTPC, but we’re always looking to improve communication among our Indigenous peoples, other stakeholders, et cetera,” he said. “We do have extensive public engagement and a fairly lengthy list of identified interested parties for things like the Taltson winter road and the operation of the hydro facility.
“We provide regular updates on what’s happening, which normally does include information about this very thing. We also work with contractors to make sure that they’re aware of things like traditional rights, but you can always do better.”
While the Feb. 29 episode could have been a misunderstanding, Hudson was adamant that he and Evans will continue to speak out when situations like this occur.
“We see a wrong here, and we’re going to make sure we correct this and it doesn’t happen to our people again,” he said.