“Save Our Trees” and honks of support were heard outside the Sturgeon Lake Business Centre on Marquis Drive during an anti-logging protest on Friday, Sep. 4 at 10a.m., that went into the early afternoon.
Candace Campbell Merasty from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and other protesters and supporters gathered in a peaceful demonstration against the logging of an area approximately 18 kilometres west of Prince Albert, that holds environmental, cultural, historical, and archaeological significance.
“We have consultations and we meet with them, and it’s a pattern,” said Campbell Merasty. “We’re constantly telling them no and they’re still bringing up new proposals.”
In 2023, Dave Rondeau discovered an 11,000 year old archaeological site after the ice broke for the spring. Since then, arrowheads, the lower and upper Hudson Houses, and tipi rings have been found in the same area.
Rondeau has been advocating to stop logging in the area since 2016, and even more so now with new archaeological sites showing up.
With the discovery of the Upper and Lower Hudson Houses, journal reports recording the burials of first nations during the smallpox epidemic have been found.
A large concern with logging is destroying the burial sites of the Pikakamaw, a small group of Cree people in the area.
“Archaeologists haven’t had time to get in there and study these sites because we’re only just finding them,” said Campbell Merasty. “We need more time, the more sites we discover are turning out to be a heritage corridor.”
Another main concern is the preservation of the traditional way of life that the land provides for the surrounding communities.
“That’s where we get our roots, our berries, our medicines, we’ve done hunting there, there are so many animals there,” Campbell Merasty said. “That’s where we do all our gathering and trapping, it’s also used recreationally. We have indigenous and non-indigenous families that go back there and use the area.”
Campbell Merasty also mentioned how in areas that have already been affected by logging and salvaging during the summer fires, have not been able to grow anything back.
“We don’t want them logging in there because they’ll scarcify the land and totally disrupt it.” Campbell Merasty said. “Nothing’s growing back, they’ve tried replanting it, and the trees don’t take because there’s no soil. All the trees are gone.”
The trees hold moisture and keep rich soil for other plants, and without the tree roots, the land has eroded into a thin rough layer of soil, with the rest being sand, where nothing can grow.
Campbell Merasty talked about how the forestry company and industry are using the fires and salvaging to get their foot into the door for the logging process.
“How far will it go? We keep telling them no but they keep coming back at us and we get a moratorium,” Campbell Merasty said.
The first moratorium was one year, and the second was for two, which has now come to an end.
Candace Campbell Merasty and the anti logging protesters outside of the Sturgeon Lake Business Centre on Friday Sep. 4 hold signs and look for support in anti-logging efforts.
“For me, it’s been very frustrating,” Campbell Merasty said. “We keep telling the loggers no, we want to protect it, to leave it alone. They just won’t quit, they keep coming at us and now they’re pushing harder.”
She also mentioned how the Chief of Sturgeon Lake First Nation made a clear statement at one of the consultation meetings, saying a hard no to logging. The cause has also received a letter of support from the Chief of Muskeg Lake Cree Nation.
Other demonstrations by the group have also taken place, such as their protest on the coldest day of the year, outside the old forestry centre, which is now the University of Saskatchewan Campus in downtown Prince Albert.
“It’s slowly growing, we need support,” Campbell Merasty said. “We need support from different bands, we need support from INAC, we have to protect this land, There has to be a stop.”
The group is looking for support from local Indigenous bands and leadership, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, and more supporters to stop the logging.
Campbell Merasty says she hopes to create a large, main group of supporters.
“”We’d like to form some kind of group, whatever it takes to support that,” Campbell Merasty said. “To come together and help us say no to the logging, to support us and make it protected. That’s what we’re asking for right now is support, total support to stop this once and for all. We’d like to see this place protected but we need everyone to come together.”
