No update on investigation, 1 year after wildlife officers searched Łutsel K'e culture camp
CBC
An investigation into illegal harvesting at a Łutsel K'e Dene First Nation culture camp is still ongoing, more than a year later.
According to Łutsel K'e Dene First Nation, wildlife officers helicoptered into a camp on Artillery Lake on Sept. 13, 2022, and spent hours searching tents and teepees for illegally harvested caribou. The government said an investigation was launched because officers received two independent reports of illegal harvesting in a zone meant to protect the Bathurst caribou herd, and found carcasses of caribou and wasted meat.
A year later, there have been no details on that investigation. Shane Thompson, the N.W.T. minister of Environment and Climate Change, said in the Legislative Assembly on Friday that he couldn't provide any.
"Investigations are done independently by officers, not by myself," he said.
"At this point, as it is still an open investigation, I cannot speak further to this matter."
This came as Richard Edjericon, the MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh, demanded an apology from Thompson for the government's decision to search the camp.
"Will the minister now recognize the wrong that was done on his watch and apologize to the community of Łutselk'e and start the reconciliation process as mandated by this government?" Edjericon said.
Thompson said the government has identified an independent party to conduct a review of the incident, but this can't be completed until after the investigation into illegal harvesting is completed.
The search was criticized by Indigenous governments as well as people who were there when it took place. In a news release at the time, the First Nation wrote that children were crying and elders were traumatized during the tent-by-tent search.
At the time, Thompson stated officers found the carcasses of 10 caribou within the mobile zone and "a significant amount of suspected wasted edible meat was identified."
But the search warrant that allowed territorial government wildlife officers to collect caribou samples from the camp was quashed in court last October.
About 80 Łutsel K'e Dene First Nation members were taking part in the culture camp at the time.
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