Trappers promote fur business overseas

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Canadian Natives, in London recently to promote the fur trapping industry in a city that leads the European anti-fur lobby, received little play from the British media.

"We were in London to heighten awareness about the fur industry here . . . London is a big place and there's so much going on. It's very hard to capture people's attention," said Lou Demerais, one of a group of ten Albertans who spent a week in London, along with about 60 other representatives of the fur trapping industry from across Canada and the Arctic. The group was sponsored by the Canadian government and British Museum in support of the opening of The Living Arctic display at London's Museum of Mankind.

"We got some coverage from The Times of London, but not from some of the more serious papers," adds Demerais, public relations officer for the Indian Association of Alberta (IAA). "Things could have been set up and organized a little better . . . the public relations were inadequate. Someone should have gone over about two weeks earlier to set up the groundwork. TV and radio coverage were good good though," said Demerais.

Russel Willier, a trapper from Sucker Creek, saw the London visit as a good way to network with other Native trappers. After talking to representatives of the Ontario Trapper's Association, he and other Alberta trappers are now considering establishing their own warehouse to cut out the "middleman" fur buyer and get more money for raw pelts.

"That's what they're doing in Ontario. Maybe we'll start sending our furs to the Ontario warehouse . . . and they'll be sold directly to the overseas market. In the future, we might have our own warehouse in the west," explains Willier. "As soon as the fur changes hands from us it's sold at a 50 to 100 per cent mark up. It would be better if we could sell directly to fur manufacturers."

Willier pointed out that he usually sells a coyote pelt for about $50. He roughly estimates that it takes four pelts to make a coat which will sell for several thousand dollars. Trappers "are getting pennies" for their work, he says.

Archie Cyprien, a Fort Chipewyan trapper, agrees with Demerais that more could have been done to raise the awareness of Europeans that hunting and trapping support an ancient way of life. "I talked directly to a few people (Londoners), but not that many came to the opening. There were only a lot of government people there. We got some exposure, but not what it should have been." He didn't really talk to any Europeans about trapping, explaining he was "just there as part of the group."

Cyprien was satisfied with The Living Arctic display, though. Although, the recreated tipi "didn't have much in it" the trapper's cabin was "presented to a to a tee. There was a 45-gallon drum in the middle of it, just like every cabin really has, and all the basic stuff was there. There was even a figure skinning a beaver."

Lawrence Courtoreille, IAA Treaty 8 vice-president, felt the trip was well worth it. "London is a place where people are bombing fur stores. A lot of money has been spent on good anti-fur campaigns. But, we shoed the other side of the story. People over there don't know anything about the way we live and wildlife. They don't know about fur harvesting."

Courtoreille cited the drumming and singing cultural shows put on by the Natives as doing much to dispel the image of the Hollywood image. "They understand we don't run around with pain on our faces. And we showed that we're able to live like they do" he added, explaining that John Kim Bell, an eastern Canada Native, conducted the Royal Philharmonic Symphony of London during the visit.

It was a good way to show trappers the other side of the coin, too, explained Courtoreille. "They saw how Europeans live . . . and some of the attitudes they have." It may be easier to explain to a grassroots person now about boycotts and why the price for pelts are down some years, he said.

"There ould be a lot more exhibits like The Living Arctic. It's no use confronting the Green Peace people at the street level," Courtoreille concluded.