Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw fishery symbolic of fight for Indigenous self-governance
CTV
The chief of Sipekne'katik First Nation in Nova Scotia remembers when the Indigenous fishery first made headlines in the late '90s.
Chief Mike Sack was a teenager at the time. He recalls the Department of Fisheries and Oceans seizing his father’s fishing boat.
“It just seemed the more people went down and fished, the more DFO was in the area,” recalls Chief Sack.
That was around the same time the Supreme Court of Canada made its 1999 ruling affirming the treaty rights of the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy bands on the East Coast to fish for a "moderate livelihood."
The decision was the final outcome after an appeal by Mi'kmaq fisherman Donald Marshall Jr., of his conviction for fishing and selling eel outside of season with an illegal net without a licence.
