The federal government has committed $885,225 to planning to change Mackenzie Delta reindeer herd management into a business.
“Through this project, we are honouring the traditions and knowledge of the Inuvialuit community while fostering a sustainable future that celebrates and preserves their unique identity and way of life,” Heath MacDonald, Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, said in a statement on Thursday.
The Inuvialuit Community Economic Development Organization (ICEDO) will use the money to develop a strategic plan to transition management of the herd from a community food security initiative into a self-sufficient business.
“For Inuvialuit, food security is about more than access to food — it is about our right to make decisions for ourselves, to strengthen our communities and to carry forward the knowledge and practices that have sustained us for generations,” Jordan McLeod, acting chair, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, said.
“This investment supports Inuvialuit-led solutions that build food sovereignty, create opportunity and help ensure our people can continue to rely on healthy, local and culturally important foods now and into the future.”
Unique background
The Mackenzie Delta reindeer herd has a unique history.
The herd was brought to Canada’s western Arctic in 1935 from Alaska when caribou numbers in the N.W.T. region started to decrease and their migration patterns became more unpredictable.
The Alaska herd had previously been brought over from Siberia to Alaska in 1892 and 1898, says a Parks Canada background on the animals.
Indigenous Sámi reindeer herders were then brought over from Norway to help show the local Inuvialuit, the Inuit in western Canada, how to herd the animals and train them to draw sleds for transport.
ICEDO took over the herd in 2021 from the Kunnek Resource Development Corporation, which operated as Canadian Reindeer, when the animals numbered approximately 1,500.
Under ICEDO’s management, the government puts current herd numbers at 7,000.
The federal funding for the project was made through the Canadian Agricultural Strategic Priorities Program that aims to support the agri-food sector or Canadian agriculture in general.
Comments, tips or story ideas? Contact Eilís at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Yukon First Nation declares caribou herd to be ‘living ecological person’, CBC News
Finland: Sami Parliament in Finland call for reform to Reindeer Damage Act, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Champion crowned in 2026 Norwegian reindeer championships, Eye on the Arctic
Sweden: Reindeer found with ears cut off — investigated as possible hate crime, Radio Sweden
