Hunting rights restored

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The Nova Scotia government has finally formally recognized Aboriginal rights to hunt and fish. Eighty-three Micmac hunters last week began a controversial week-long moose hunt after their chiefs signed an agreement in which the province states it "recognizes and affirms that the Micmac have an existing Aboriginal right to harvest outside of reserves for wildlife and food and fur - subjects only to the needs of conservation and public safety." The Micmacs claimed that a treaty signed in 1752 gave them the right to hunt for food and that they are not bound by provincial regulations. Talks had been going on for 20 years.