The Court of the Queen’s Bench of Saskatchewan recently overturned a 2019 provincial judgement regarding Onkwehonwe hunting and fishing rights. The move affirms that Saskatchewan has done little to address the systematic and racist legislation noted explicitly by the UN
Ohsweken resident and Mohawk Nation member Blair Hill were one of several Onkwehonwe hunters targeted while hunting in Saskatchewan’s Moose Mountain Provincial Park in 2018 when the incident occurred.
The 2019 ruling favoured the hunters and was welcomed by the confederacy of 74 Onkwehonwe nations known as the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
The crown attorney stated in 2019 that they wanted to “save the game for their own FN communities.” Still, Onkwehonwe cannot peacefully exercise their rights significantly if the original treaty overlaps into two Provinces.
The Court of the Queens Bench Decision uses precedent-setting cases rife with racism as rationale, contradicting their seasoned trial judge who appropriately applied the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement.
After 3 years of fighting the province of Saskatchewan to uphold their end of the treaties, Hill confirmed that he would be appealing this latest decision and pushing for the case to reach the Supreme Court of Canada.
Rightly so.
