Quebec Cree hunters angry after caribou carcasses found wasted by road

Cree Nation members are voicing their fury after almost a dozen caribou carcasses were found strewn alongside the Transtaiga highway southeast of Chisasibi, in the James Bay region of Quebec.

Roger Orr of Chisasibi went out to hunt caribou on Saturday and came across the site near Lac Denise, about 80 km southeast of the community.

"What I saw was the total disrespect for the caribou," said Orr.

"I was very saddened when I saw this, because of how we were taught to respect these animals. My mind went directly towards my thoughts on the sacredness of these animals."

Orr says he saw the pieces of at least 10 caribou. He says it appeared that the hunters were taking only the choice cuts of meat like the back legs, the front, the rump and the back strip and leaving the rest to rot.

He says he also saw dozens of trucks of non-indigenous hunters parked on the side of the highway.

Elders reacting to the photos said the problem is very upsetting to them.

"Before the white man was allowed to hunt in our territory, we never saw wasted animals on our roads," said elder Harry Bearskin.

Orr and others commenting on Facebook on Sunday and Monday said they regularly see planes from outfitting companies flying low to scare the animals to where the hunters are.

Orr also took a video over the weekend of a plane flying low over the area where the caribou were.

The outfitting company which owns the plane, Mirage Aventure, says it did have a plane in the area on the weekend to pick up a hunter. Marie-Anne Aubin, the company's deputy director general, says the hunters her company brought into the territory were not responsible for the meat wastage.

"I asked my employees if they were responsible for the leaving the carcasses on the side of the road and the answer was 'no,'" said Aubin.

"I believe my employees. They have been with us for many years, and they are responsible employees who have been briefed about how to respect not only the caribou, but also the people who live in the territory."

Aubin went on to say that hunters are not required to use the services of an outfitting organization and it is difficult to educate those who come into the territory on their own about how to conduct themselves with respect.

Orr says the leaders of the Cree Nation need to do something to change what non-indigenous hunters are doing in the territory.

"We call this land Eeyou Istchee [the people's land]," he said.

"How can we allow this to happen? Why can't we make our rules that this does not happen? We need to have our own policies and laws in place, so we can take care of the animals."

Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come couldn't be reached for comment, but he did say in a tweet that he will bring the matter up at the regional level.

The provincial ministry responsible for regulating hunting, the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, confirmed that an investigation into the matter is underway.