Outdoor News, November 4, 2016
The beleaguered Minnesota moose population is suffering another blow this fall thanks to hunts by the Fond du Lac Lake Superior, Bois Forte and Grand Portage bands of Chippewa Indians. This travesty will result in 38 animals killed. Justification for the hunts has generally been, “It won’t biologically threaten the moose herd.” If this is true, then why is the hunting exclusive to Native Americans?
Minnesota is a fair and open society based on freedom and equality, right? According to the 2015 U.S. Census, American Indians account for 1.3 percent of the population in Minnesota… So shouldn’t they be allowed just 1.3 percent of the moose hunted? This year, the bands should have been allowed to kill just one moose and the remaining 37 should have gone to the other 98.7 percent of Minnesotans.
Until things change, any freedom (-and moose-) loving Minnesotans who spend their money at the Black Bear, Fond-Du-Luth, Fortune Bay and Grand Portage casinos need to have their heads examined!
Mark Schoess
Stacy