In 1899, when the original treaty was signed, Treaty 8 members were nomadic hunters and gatherers. They went wherever the berries or the herds were. The original boundary in this treaty did not decrease their land entitlement, as that would be taking away almost half of their entitlement to hunt, fish, and gather. Further, the province’s application seeks to take away the undeveloped land and leave Treaty 8 with the overdeveloped land.
We are already adversely affected from issues around hunting. One Treaty 8 Chief summed it up really well. He is nearly 50 and has never hunted caribou in his own territory because some of the herds are on the verge of extinction and the area is overdeveloped.