- Burnt Church Crisis
The Burnt Church Crisis was a conflict in
Canada between theMi'kmaq people of theBurnt Church First Nation and non-AboriginalNew Brunswick fisheries, from 1999 to 2001.upreme Court ruling
As
Indigenous people ,Mi'kmaq claim they have the right to catchlobster out of season. The non-Aboriginals claim that that if this is allowed lobster stocks (an important source of income) could be depleted.In September 1999, a
Supreme Court of Canada ruling (R. v. Marshall ) acknowledged that treaties from the 1770s held that a Mi'kmaq man,Donald Marshall, Jr. , had the right to fish for eels out of season. The Burnt Church First Nation interpreted the judgment as meaning that they could catch lobster out of season and began to put out traps.Crisis
Angry non-Aboriginals damaged and destroyed a number of Mi'kmaq
lobster trap s in the weeks to come. Local Mi'kmaq retaliated by destroying non-Aboriginal fishing boats and buildings.Government Minister
Herb Dhaliwal and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans managed to sign fishing agreements with 29 of 34 Atlantic Coast bands but theBurnt Church First Nation was not convinced. The Canadian Government ordered the Mi'kmaq to reduce the total number oflobster trap s used, leaving members of theBurnt Church First Nation with a total of 40 traps for the whole community. Some Mi'kmaq resisted this, claiming that they already have conservation methods in place to ensure the lobster stock would not be depleted off theAtlantic coast .In 2000 and 2001, rising conflict led to a series of standoffs between the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Aboriginals, and a number of arrests were made. The federal government offered to pay for a $2 million fishing wharf and five new fishing boats for the Mi'kmaq. The Natives rejected the offer, believing it could be interpreted as a surrender of their legal fishing rights.Report
In April 2002, a Federal report on the crisis suggested that a number of police charges be dropped and that fishermen should be compensated for damaged traps and boats. They also recommended, however, that First Nations fishermen should not be allowed to fish out of season, and should attain fishing licences like non-aboriginal fishermen.
ee also
*
Oka Crisis
*Ipperwash Crisis
*Gustafsen Lake Standoff
*Caledonia Land Dispute References
* [http://www.canadiana.org/citm/specifique/abagitation_e.html Canada in the Making] - Aboriginal Political Agitation
* [http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/fishing/marshall.html The Marshall decision] , CBC, May 9, 2004
* [http://www.cbc.ca/nb/story/BurntChurchvote000808.html Burnt Church to vote on interim fishing deal] , CBC, Aug 8, 2000
* [http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2000/08/15/burntchurch_dhal000815.html Dhaliwal takes tough line with Burnt Church protesters] , CBC, November 10, 2000
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