[dmcbride]

Originally Posted by waterhawk

Kurt505: Below is a post I made on a thread the Jan of this year. I think it is relevant to the point you are trying to make:


In post #33 Savage Shooter stated:

"Ah yes, that makes sense. Because natives certainly had rifles before the white man came.

No, wait. They hadn't discovered gun powder. In fact, they hadn't even discovered the bronze age or any metallurgy. They hadn't even invented the wheel. Their tools were made of stone or bone... They had fire, at least. Not more than 1 rung above a cave man. That's a fact.

So...why do they get to use a rifle in bow hunting season or any season? It's hardly some ancient tradition. If they want to live the way they lived before the white man came, they should give up the wonders that the white man brought with him and actually live the way they did before the white man came.

Otherwise, they can buy tags like the rest of us and, sure, use a rifle in rifle season. Just my opinion"

Status Indians got special hunting and fishing rights when they entered into treaties with the Crown. In Treaty Six the Indians bargained away the right to 121,000 square miles, including the minerals, oil and gas, for very little. That little included the right to hunt and fish. The Indians would never had agreed to the Treaty if it had not stated that they could continue to hunt and fish. Savage Shooter, you obviously want to back and renegotiate the treaties. What portion of the 121,000 sqaure miles of land do you suggest be offered back to the Treaty Six Indians in exchange for their special right to hunt and fish.

I think this pretty much sums it up.