Gameti chief David Wedawin on trial for wasting caribou meat
About 50 carcasses found at Hottah Lake in April 2013
David Wedawin, the Chief of Gameti, N.W.T., will go on trial Wednesday morning for allegedly wasting meat from 50 caribou carcasses.
Wedawin and brothers Frank and Jimmy Arrowmaker are facing 12 counts of meat wastage.
In April 2013, conservation officers spent four days gathering parts of at least 50 caribou carcasses. They were found scattered around 12 different sites on Hottah Lake near Gameti.
Officers found meat suitable for food such as legs above the knee, rump, ribs and backstraps.
In August 2013, wildlife officers charged elder Johnny Washie. He paid a $575 fine for wasting some of the meat.
Wedawin and the Arrowmaker brothers were charged in April 2014.
The three deny having any involvement in the meat wastage. They said they were out hunting caribou when the carcasses were found, but that they've never wasted meat in their lives.
In the N.W.T., the only parts of big game such as caribou which can be left in the field are the head, lower legs, internal organs and meat damaged from gunshot. It is hunters' responsibility to ensure no meat is wasted.
The trial is being held at the community centre in Behchoko.