Makivik Corporation is asking Nunavik harvesters to do their part in protecting the regions vulnerable caribou population.
The Organization issued a news release on Dec 6 calling on both hunters and governments to “help preserve the future of caribou herds in the Inuit Territory”.
“Makivik will continue to monitor the situation, but in the meantime, we want everyone to do their part to protect the population levels of the caribou”, said Makivik Corporation President, Charlie Watt following meetings with chiefs of the neighboring Cree and Naskapi Nations.
The Quebec Government finally responded to calls from Indigenous Groups in Northern Quebec and closed the sports hunt of Leaf River Caribou, effective February 2018.
Measures have already been put in place to prohibit the harvest of any female caribou during the calving periods that include the months of March, April, May and June in Nunavik.
Makivik Board of Directors also voted in favour of a second resolution asking harvesters to voluntarily refrain from harvesting from the George River Caribou herd until that population recovers.
That herd that once numbered more than 760,000 have shrunk fewer than 9,000.
The decline of Northern Quebec’s caribou herd prompted the 2013 creation of Ungava Peninsula Caribou Aboriginal Roundtable or (UPCART) made up of 7 Indigenous groups that inhabit the region, with Makivik designated as a representative of Nunavik Inuit.
That group signed its own co-operative Wildlife Management Agreement in 2017.
Adamie Delisle Alaku is Makivik’s Vice-President of Environment, Wildlife and Research and who sits on the Roundtable.
He said, “Our caribou has sustained us for thousands of years and Inuit will continue to pressure governments and other interested parties to respect our preservation plan for the caribou.”