Zoltan Grossman We in Wisconsin have been been following the Mi'kmaq treaty conflict at Burnt Church, N.B., very closely.
Sport fishermen take much of the catch and that's a major source of the regional economy.
After a 1983 federal court decision upholding Ojibwa rights to fish for walleye in traditional fishing grounds before the sport season opened, there was outrage among non-Natives. Riot-clad police and National Guard helicopters were deployed at the lakes, and Witnesses for Nonviolence monitored harassment of Ojibwa spearfishers and their families. A federal court injunction eventually prevented anti-Indian groups from harassing Ojibwa as they were merely exercising their rights. The major difference between Wisconsin and New Brunswick is that here in the States it was the anti-Indian citizen or vigilante groups that swamped the Native boats and threatened fishermen's lives. At Burnt Church it has seemed that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has taken on this role.