Metis people in Alberta can still be charged for hunting out of season, but probably not for long. Thanks to a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision, the Metis seem destined to have the same hunting privileges as Treaty Indians.
In Slave Lake last week, Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA) Vice President Trevor Gladue was jubilant over the decision.
“It proves that we are not second-rate Indians,” he told The Leader. “We are one of three Aboriginal peoples recognized by the Constitution of Canada.”
As such, Metis won’t be satisfied with expanded hunting privileges alone, Gladue said.
“It’s going to be a whole new ball game now with Metis rights.”
The ball game started in earnest on Sept. 19, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Ontario Metis hunter Steve Powley. Powley was charged in 1993 with illegally hunting a moose. Dismissing the arguments of federal and provincial governments that the Metis did not exist before European contact and therefore should not enjoy Aboriginal hunting rights, the court ruled that they do have those same rights. The decision is aimed specifically at the 900-member Metis community of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, but it has implications for the entire country.
“It’s a major victory,” says Gladue.
Metis in Canada – defined as people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry – number about 300,000. Something over 60,000 of those live in Alberta, but only about half that number are registered with the MNA. Zone 5 of the Metis Nation – which Slave Lake is a part of – has 2,200 registered members.
With the decision, Metis membership suddenly becomes a hot issue. Who is Metis and who isn’t? The Supreme Court recognized that its decision might result in Metis membership claimants coming out of the woodwork. It stressed the urgency of standardized membership requirements, “so legitimate rights holders can be identified.”
Gladue says that process is already underway in Alberta, and will be high on the agenda at the Metis National Assembly in Winnipeg next month.
There are three criteria for Metis membership, Gladue says. A person must consider him or herself Metis, have Metis ancestry and be a recognized member of a Metis community.
“We’re not going to let just anyone walk in and claim membership,” he says.
Another thing Metis leaders want to head off is negative public reaction to the decision. Gladue says there’s no reason to fear that the bush will suddenly be full of Metis hunters bagging wildlife indiscriminately all the year round.
“We don’t want to give the impression that we’re just going to go out there and start blasting away,” he says. “We have to be responsible about it.”
Gladue stresses that Metis people consider themselves good Canadian citizens, as concerned about the conservation of the wildlife resource as anyone else. On the other hand, many Metis regard themselves as every bit as ‘Indian’ as Treaty Indians, and just as deserving as the hunting freedom they enjoy. Metis people in the Slave Lake area who depend on wild meat are keenly aware of the Sept. 19 landmark court ruling.
“I’ve looked forward to this since I was old enough to carry a license,” says Norris Lacombe, a hunter and trapper who prefers not to buy his meat at the grocery store.
Gladue says he’s been hearing from people like Lacombe pretty much constantly since news of the Sept. 19 decision came out, asking what they can and can’t do. He tells them they can still be charged for breaking Alberta’s hunting regulations, but that it’s only a matter of time before the obstacles are removed.
“We’re cautioning our people to use common sense,” he says.
Common sense (and lawyers) tell Metis leaders that the Supreme Court victory on hunting rights is just the beginning. If the Supreme Court recognizes Metis rights as full-fledged Aboriginals in the matter of hunting, surely they must recognize rights in other areas too. Gladue fully expects it.
“(It) opens the door for a lot more than hunting rights,” he says. “For example; health, education and other rights that Aboriginal people enjoy in this country.”
Gladue realizes that with entitlement comes big responsibility, and he says the Metis people are ready for it.
“The Metis people have always been very responsible. We’ve worked hard to build this country.”

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