Sipekne'katik Archives – Ku'ku'kwes News

More than 50 Mi’kmaw fishers charged with fishery offences in Nova Scotia courts

September 25, 2023 Maureen Googoo

More than 50 Mi’kmaw fish harvesters from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are currently before the courts in Nova Scotia on fishery-related offences. The charges range from fishing for lobster or elver eels without authorization, […]

Nova Scotia judge reserves decision in treaty fishing rights case

October 19, 2022 Maureen Googoo

A Nova Scotia provincial court judge has reserved his decision in a court case that involves the treaty right to fish to earn a moderate livelihood. Leon Knockwood, 27, James Nevin, 38, and Logan Pierro-Howe, […]

Mi’kmaw Family and Children’s Services sues Sipekne’katik following order to leave community

August 29, 2022 Maureen Googoo

An Indigenous agency that provides child protection and family support services to First Nation communities in Nova Scotia is suing the province’s second largest Mi’kmaw First Nation after it was ordered to leave one of […]

AFN National Chief calls on DFO to stop intimidating, harassing Mi’kmaw fishers

September 10, 2021 Maureen Googoo

The National Chief for the Assembly of First Nations is calling on the federal government to stop criminalizing treaty rights and end the harassment and intimidation of Mi’kmaw fishers on the waters. “Intimidation and violence […]

Sipekne’katik chief arrested, detained by DFO following launch of annual treaty lobster fishery

August 17, 2021 Maureen Googoo

The chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia was arrested and questioned by federal fishery officers Monday just as community fishers began its annual treaty lobster fishery in Saulnierville, N.S. Chief Mike Sack […]

RCMP say a church fire at a Nova Scotia First Nation is suspicious

July 1, 2021 Maureen Googoo

The RCMP is investigating a fire that happened at a Catholic church in Indian Brook First Nation, N.S. According to the RCMP, police and the local fire department responded to a fire at St. Kateri […]

Sipekne’katik fisherman says delay in fishery launch the smart decision for now

June 5, 2021 Maureen Googoo

Robert Syliboy said he was reluctant to drop his lobster traps in St. Mary’s Bay this week. “If I put my gear in the water today, it would likely be gone by tomorrow,” the Mi’kmaw […]

United Nations committee seeks answers from Canada over racism, violence against Mi’kmaw fishers

May 11, 2021 Maureen Googoo

A United Nations committee is seeking answers from Canada regarding the racism and violence Mi’kmaw lobster fishers experienced while they exercised their treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood in Nova Scotia last fall. […]

Sipekne’katik to resume lobster fishing under moderate livelihood June 1

April 23, 2021 Maureen Googoo

The Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia says it plans to continue on with its own treaty fishery in St. Mary’s Bay in June despite the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’s directive that all moderate […]

Sipekne’katik sues Nova Scotia, says fish buying regulations infringe on treaty rights

February 5, 2021 Maureen Googoo

The Sipekne’katik First Nation is suing the Nova Scotia government over regulations that oversee fish and seafood sales from fish harvesters to buyers, calling them unconstitutional and an infringement of Mi’kmaw treaty rights. In the […]

Mi’kmaw lobster harvester is pleased with court injunction against hostile protesters

October 22, 2020 Maureen Googoo

One of two Mi’kmaw lobster harvesters who were barricaded inside a lobster facility in West Pubnico, N.S. says he is pleased that a Nova Scotia judge has granted a temporary injunction against hostile protesters like […]

Angry mob trap Mi’kmaw fishermen at a lobster pound in southwestern Nova Scotia

October 14, 2020 Maureen Googoo

An angry mob of non-Indigenous lobster fishermen trapped two Mi’kmaw fishermen inside a lobster pound in southwestern Nova Scotia late Tuesday evening. According to Jason Marr, a Mi’kmaw lobster fisherman with the Sipekne’katik First Nation, […]

Next step for Sipekne’katik lobster harvesters in moderate livelihood fishery is selling catch

September 28, 2020 Maureen Googoo

Terrence Augustine said his first week of lobster fishing under his treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood from the fishery was rough. He said non-Indigenous commercial fishermen cut the lines attached to the 50 […]

Sipekne’katik Chief says Mi’kmaw lobster traps vandalized in St. Mary’s Bay over the weekend

September 21, 2020 Maureen Googoo

The Chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation says lobster harvesters from his community were the target of vandals who cut their trap lines in St. Mary’s Bay over the weekend. Chief Michael Sack, who accused […]

Nova Scotia First Nation launches its own moderate livelihood fishery

September 18, 2020 Maureen Googoo

Unable to reach an agreement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to define a moderate livelihood, one Nova Scotia First Nation has instead launched its own rights-based lobster fishery. The Sipekne’katik First Nation rolled […]