The CGRF supported the Grassy Narrows’ Trappers Council in presenting a trapping workshop in conjunction with the community’s fall feast. This event took place October 21, 2010 in the gymnasium at the Grassy Narrows School.
The workshop provided educational outreach to Indigenous and non-Indigenous trappers, as well as an opportunity for elders to transmit traditional knowledge to youth.
This workshop was primarily intended to focus on bridging an emerging gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous trappers that had been fueled by recent changes to trapping regulations in Ontario. Under the current system, non-Indigenous trappers were being awarded trap lines as they became available based a points system. However, Indigenous trappers who were able to indicate a documented significant family connection to a given trap line were allowed first right-of-refusal before trap lines were made available to non-Indigenous trappers. This had resulted in some tension between Indigenous and non-Indigenous trapping groups because it meant that non-Indigenous trappers could not directly transfer trap lines to their own descendents, kin, associates, helpers, etc.
The final report from this project is available here: Trappers Final Report
