Welcome to 7 Algonquin Hunters

   
www.7algonquinhunters.com

The Algonquins have a most incredible opportunity to advance their Nation in its relationship with the Crown, but they must seize the moment right before them.  The recent favourable decision (November 20, 2007) of the Tsilhqot’in Nation in British Columbia Superior Court has been described in the Globe and Mail (January 17, 2008) as “a constitutional bombshell, that is if you are thinking nuclear”.  The court decision establishes that aboriginal title is superior to private property interests, that aboriginal rights can and did suspend the Forestry Act in B.C. and that hunting and fishing cannot be regulated or limited by provincial legislation.

Presently, the 7 Algonquin hunters are in the Superior Court in Pembroke, Ontario arguing the Tsilhqot’in case as the precedent, seeking to establish Algonquin aboriginal title in Algonquin Park and aboriginal right to hunt and fish without Ministry of Natural Resources interference.  The case began on January 29th, 2008, had a second hearing on April 15th, 2008 and is now set to resume on June 24, 2008, due to material filed by the Algonquin hunters.  That the material consisted of a wide-ranging affidavit from one of the hunters, outlining the discriminating behaviour of the governments in the land claim process and the impact it has on the dysfunctional relationship between the Algonquins and the Ministry of Natural Resources.  Also, an expert report has been filed which outlines the dispossession of Algonquin Park from the Algonquins by the fraud and deception of the Ontario government.  The Province of Ontario, after seeing this material, requested an adjournment to cross-examine the Algonquin hunter and prepare some of their own material for the June hearing.

This court case is providing an opportunity and forum for the Algonquins to cast a spotlight on the discrimination and abuse suffered by them since the granting of the Hudson’s Bay charter in 1670.  The steady erosion of aboriginal title and aboriginal right since that time now has an opportunity to come to an end, by establishing an Algonquin precedent similar to the Tsilhqot’in Nation in B.C.

Essentially, issues surrounding inherent right to aboriginal title in the Ottawa River Valley and the inviolate aboriginal right to hunt and fish in that territory, is before a Superior Court in Pembroke which is demonstrating it wants to listen to the presentation.  This case is the opportunity to establish a major precedent for Algonquins in the Ottawa River Valley.  Ultimately the goal in this case will be to demonstrate to the court that the Algonquins have entitlement to a vast territory in the Ottawa River Valley, suitable compensation for past abuses by the Crown, and a declaration that provincial legislation cannot encroach on aboriginal rights.  Issues such as self-government and compensation for taking of resources will be before the court; this case has the potential to be “a constitutional bombshell, that is if you are thinking nuclear’.

In order to advance this case on behalf of the Algonquins, these 7 Algonquin Hunters require financial assistance to keep the case supported.  They require this assistance to keep the case going until there are court rulings to provide funding for the case.  They need to establish certain factual benchmarks before a funding application can be ruled upon, this being accomplished between January and late June 2008.  There have been significant expenses incurred to get to this point and the hunters require assistance to pay for lawyers and experts in the ongoing work on the case.

For direct information on the Tsilhqot’in Nation case, please go to

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