Hundreds of years after the treaties were signed, the chief of a Nova Scotia First Nation says it's time for the Crown to honour its agreements with Indigenous Peoples and recognize their fishing rights. Ahead of the provincial election later this month and the widely anticipated federal election this fall, Chief Mike Sack of the Sipekne'katik First Nation called on all levels of government to recognize treaty rights. Path out of povertyThe fishery offers the Mi'kmaw community in central Nova Scotia a path out of poverty, Sack said. But the strict restrictions on what Indigenous fishers can catch and sell further perpetuates the cycle of injustice, he said. The dispute over Mi'kmaw fishing rights in southwestern Nova Scotia escalated last fall, with a lobster pound that stored the catch of Mi'kmaw fishers burned to the ground.

Source: CBC News August 07, 2021 18:33 UTC