Tradition vs. technology: Debate over use of drones to hunt caribou

YELLOWKNIFE — Tradition and technology are clashing on the tundra where Indigenous groups are debating the use of drones to hunt caribou.

The issue arose during public consultations on new wildlife regulations in the Northwest Territories, where First Nations and Métis depend on caribou for food.

Drones are not widely used to hunt, but the N.W.T. government says they have been utilized to find caribou and sometimes to herd them to a hunter. That’s caused fears of increased pressure on populations that are already struggling.

The Bathurst herd, nearly half a million strong in the 1980s, has dwindled to 8,500. The BluenoseEast herd has declined almost 50 per cent in the last three years to about 19,000 animals.

“We heard significant concern about the use of drones for hunting and broad support for a ban on their use,” Joslyn Oosenbrug, an Environment Department spokesperson, said in an email.

“A ban on drones will help address conservation concerns for some species and help prevent new conservation concerns for others.”

The territory has proposed banning drones for hunting except for Indigenous harvesters.

Some Indigenous groups argue the ban should go further. The board that co-manages wildlife between Great Slave and Great Bear lakes wants a ban on drones to apply universally.

“The Wek’èezhìi Renewable Resources Board would prefer that drones not be used for harvesting purposes,” said board biologist Aimee Guile in an email.

The Northwest Territory Métis Association also wants to see drones banned for everyone.

Others argue that banning drones for Indigenous Peoples would violate treaty rights.

An N.W.T. report into consultations on the proposed ban says both the Inuvialuit Game Council and the Wildlife Management Advisory Council stated that rights holders should be exempt from the proposed ban, “because of the potential infringement to Aboriginal harvesters exercising their rights.”

The Tlicho government, which has jurisdiction in communities west of Great Slave Lake, also wants Indigenous harvesters exempted.

“It’s a matter of leaving it with us,” said spokesperson Michael Birlea. “We want to be able to make our own decisions rather than somebody else.”

Tlicho residents are uneasy with the technology.

“(Tlicho leaders) also acknowledged the discomfort heard from many of their citizens,” the consultation report said. “Many citizens expressed that all harvesters should be prohibited from using drones.”

Members of the Fort Chipewyan Métis local in Alberta hunt in the N.W.T. and are concerned about the impact drones could have on the health of caribou herds and on Métis culture.

“Drones could undermine the transmission of traditional knowledge to younger hunters about how to hunt and what to look for,” the local said in its submission.

It suggested that restrictions on drones should come from Indigenous governments, not the territory.