Two Peace Brigades International (PBI) volunteers recently acted as observers during a meeting involving the Chippewas of Saugeen. The Saugeen are the sister band of the Chippewas of Nawash, with whom PBI has been involved for several years. The Saugeen live on a reserve on the shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada, near the small town of Port Elgin.Like the Nawash, the Saugeen are involved in a conflict over their right to fish commercially in what they regard as their traditional waters. The Saugeen surrendered two million acres of land through questionable treaties in 1836 and 1854, but never surrendered their fishery, which was regarded at that time by the government as "belonging exclusively to the Indians."
However this recognition of Saugeen ownership of the fishery slowly disappeared, and over time their rights eroded, along with the state of fish stocks. Now the Saugeen, who view fishing as an essential part of their survival - cultural and spiritual as well as economic - are reclaiming their right to their traditional fishery.
On September 23, 1995, at a meeting of the International Joint Commission, the Saugeen put forward the Duluth Declaration, which affirms their jurisdiction over their traditional waters. In practice this means that they will recognize their own, and not the federal or provincial, regulations concerning their fishery.
At present the Saugeen are negotiating with the different federal and provincial authorities involved to try to establish a protocol governing their interactions with the Saugeen. Despite a 1993 federal court decision declaring that the Chippewas' right to fish commercially takes precedence over any other activity, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) have attempted to impose an Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licence on the Saugeen.
The MNR argues that it has to regulate the Saugeen fishery because it has to manage and conserve fish stocks; the Saugeen counter that they have a conservation plan in place and that they have practiced stewardship of the lake for centuries, while under provincial regulation there has been overfishing and pollution of the waters.
The Saugeen have asked PBI to be present during their negotiations with the various levels of government and police, to monitor the situation, to do an ongoing analysis and to report on the situation. The early November meeting NAP attended was between the band council, the native police force, the Ontario Provincial Police and MNR; further meetings are to follow at which PBI plans to be present.
The date at which the Saugeen plan to put the declaration into effect is January 1, 1997, and there is a possibility that there could be confrontations between the Saugeen and the various enforcement agencies or local non-native anglers. At the same time the suspension of the fishery during the winter months may mean that there is minimal initial impact of the Saugeen decision at first.
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