On Monday, Sipekne’katik First Nation chief Michael Sack held a planned press conference to announce the opening of its new treaty fishery season. What wasn’t planned was Sack’s arrest following the press conference. Ku’ku’kwes News was on scene in Saulnierville, reporting that a handful of boats headed into the St. Mary’s Bay after the announcement. […]
Treaty Rights
Posted inNews + Opinion
Livelihood lobster fishing cast adrift: How DFO’s inaction has history repeating itself
St. Mary’s Bay in southwestern Nova Scotia is full of lobster. It is one of the most plentiful spots within the most lucrative lobster fishing area (LFA 34, technically) in Canada. It is also—as its name suggests—a bay. Flanked by the long peninsula of Digby Neck and its islands, the bay’s long, narrow body of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Angry mob trap Mi’kmaw fishermen at a lobster pound in southwestern Nova Scotia
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on Ku’ku’kwes News on October 14, and is shared here in partnership with Maureen Googoo and Kukukwes.com. An angry mob of non-Indigenous lobster fishermen trapped two Mi’kmaw fishermen inside a lobster pound in southwestern Nova Scotia late Tuesday evening. According to Jason Marr, a Mi’kmaw lobster fisherman with […]
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What’s going on in Saulnierville and how you can help
Right now Mi’kma’ki fishermen of Sipekne’katik First Nation in Saulnierville are fighting for their right to fish and being met with extreme pushback from local fishers. But why? It all started at the beginning of the month when DFO was pulling Mi’kmaw lobster fishers‘ traps out of the water. Although Indigenous fishers like David McDonald […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
All eyes on Sipekne’katik First Nation
First, an introduction: Maureen Googoo has been working in news for more than 30 years. The journalist from Indian Brook First Nation—Sipekne’katik—has been covering Indigenous communities for an Indigenous audience since 2015 through her independent publication, Ku’ku’kwes News. She covered the clash between Indigenous fishers practising their right to a moderate livelihood in Burnt Church, New […]
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The Donald Marshall decision and Digby’s lobster wars
A debate over illegal fishing has reached a boiling point in southwest Nova Scotia. Amidst accusations from non-Indigenous fishers about black market lobster sales, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs is calling on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to finally clarify the policy surrounding a legal case nearly 20 years old. Mi’kmaw fishers […]