In the NWT where the Dene are now facing a hunting ban on the Bathurst Caribou herd there has been much talk about who has the authority to ban hunting between hunters and wildlife managers. In Nunavut, Inuit have seen dramatic herd declines in North Baffin and in the Thelon region as well.

There can be no doubt that wildlife conservation measures strike at the very heart of indigenous rights. The history of wildlife conservation in Canada is a sordid one. Some of Canada's first wildlife conservation measures were developed by a racist judge, Judge Prince in Ontario in the late 19th Century, specifically to prevent aboriginal harvesting.