Renewed Harmony

The dispute over salmon rivers a few decades ago is another case of a breakdown in relations, and conflict, but it also initiated a dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and the pursuit of common interests. In a nutshell, the number of violent incidents between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people over salmon fishing in the Gaspé and Côte-Nord regions rose between 1975 and 1983: arrests, seizure of fishing nets, gunfire, protests, acts of defiance, calling in of the anti-riot squad, rallying of sport hunting and fishing associations, smear campaigns in the sports press, inflammatory comments on local open-line radio programs, and so forth. It was the “Salmon War.” 

What caused the escalation in violence on certain rivers in the mid-1970s? First, the Mi’gmaq in the Gaspé Peninsula and the Innu in the Côte-Nord region had, in a sense, become “strangers on their own rivers” (see Panasuk and Proulx 1981). Second, “Operation Wildlife Management,”referred to as the “declub­-bing” operation, carried out in Québec in the early 1970s was also a contributing factor. A perfectly legitimate grassroots movement took hold with the aim of eliminating private clubs and giving previously inaccessible land back to the people of Québec. But First Nations communities were left out of the “declubbing” of salmon rivers. They were shunned. It was against this backdrop that conflict erupted. Fortunately, the conflict paved the way for dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, which led to agreements that benefited everyone while having a common objective, namely, the conservation and enhancement of Atlantic salmon, a threatened resource. 

The case of the Mingan River in the Côte-Nord region is noteworthy. Up until 1984, the river belonged to American interests. It was private property owing to unextinguished seigneurial rights. Quebecers were not allowed to fish there and the Innu were considered to be fishing illegally. Under pressure from the Ekuanitshit (Mingan) Innu community, the federal government purchased the river and annexed it to the reserve land. Under the Indian Act, band councils can regulate access to wildlife on reserve land. Considering the river’s poor condition, the community agreed to respect a moratorium on fishing of any kind in the Mingan and Manitou rivers and both rivers became the object of scientific monitoring and restoration. As a result, the community of Ekuanitshit gained an economic development tool and, for several years now, has managed the Manitou-Mingan outfitting operation, which provides services to numerous Québec fishers every year. That is something to celebrate. In 1986, the Mingan Band Council was awarded the prestigious Salar trophy by the Fédération québécoise pour le saumon atlantique in recognition of its salmon conservation and enhancement efforts.

In the Gaspé region, the Mi’gmaq of Gesgapegiag (Maria) and several municipalities along the Cascapedia River joined forces in the early 1980s to establish the Cascapedia River Society, a joint management corporation with an equal number of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members. The Society administers and rents outfitting camps to salmon sport fishers and its activities are an important source of employment for members of the Mi’gmaq community, who work in the camps as guides, fishery guardians and cooks. The outfitting operation is an economic lever for the entire region. 

These are just a few examples of how seeking common interests is the key to peace and harmonious relations. In the case of salmon rivers in particular, the various stakeholders quickly realized that the goals of conserving Atlantic salmon and respecting the rights of each user group could not be achieved by turning rivers into battlefields. This was a situation where all users had to cooperate, without exception, and so they did.