The premier of the Northwest Territories is heading to Łutselk’e next month to publicly apologize for a camp raid that happened years ago, according to the community’s chief.
In 2022, before R.J. Simpson became premier, wildlife officers executed a search warrant for illegally harvested caribou within a mobile no-hunting zone that follows the Bathurst caribou herd. That search warrant was later quashed by the N.W.T. Supreme Court.
Officers spent hours searching family tents and teepees. The First Nation’s leadership has said the event left children in tears and elders traumatized.
Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation Chief James Marlowe told CBC last week about the premier’s planned trip. Marlowe said Simpson made the commitment to him during a council of leaders meeting earlier this year.
“If he does that, we can both begin to heal and work with one another and reconcile,” he said.
Marlowe also says healing and reconciliation has to be promoted more in his community in general.
“There are some people that are hurt and hurting and we have to help them, to promote forgiveness,” he said.
Having recently been re-elected for another three years, one of his top priorities, he said, is dealing with ongoing substance abuse challenges in Łutselk’e. Another: dust.
CBC News reached out to the premier’s office to confirm if this apology was happening.
A spokesperson, by email, says discussions at council of leaders meetings are confidential, but also notes he will attend the Akaitcho Territory Government’s annual general assembly in Łutselk’e this July.
They added that Simpson committed to visiting Łutselk’e for an apology and healing event early into his term, but it’s been postponed several times.
“The premier remains committed to this if it is something the community would like to pursue,” Simpson’s office said, adding that talks of a healing event are on hold until the new chief and council are officially sworn in, out of respect for the elections process.
Premier tried apologizing earlier this year
The feud between the First Nation and the territorial government flared up earlier this year, when news broke that Łutselk’e threatened to withhold support for federal major infrastructure projects if it doesn’t receive an apology from the territorial government for the raid.
In response, Simpson — who has long advocated for these projects — put out a news release.
“I understand that this was a deeply difficult and upsetting experience for many people in the community,” the release quotes him as saying. “For that, I am sorry.”
In that same release, however, Simpson also says the government had “credible evidence of illegal harvesting in a protected area.”
The prepared statement was not well-received. Chief Marlowe told CBC News he didn’t even know about the government’s planned response and said that apology was not sincere.
Simpson was asked about his commitment to working with Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation in the Legislative Assembly earlier this month.
“Hopefully this time around there’s a fresh start and we can start that relationship again,” he said. “I can go to the community, I can speak to the people in the community, and we can start to build a even stronger relationship than we had before.”
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Nunavut gov’t to rename 15 place names containing Indigenous slurs, CBC News
Finland: Finland’s Northern Lights may soon have names, Yle News
Greenland: Greenland, Denmark initiate investigation into past relations, Eye on the Arctic
United States: A new digital atlas documents thousands of Yup’ik places in Alaska, Alaska Dispatch News
