The PLEA: Reading Along with The Barren Grounds

The traplines provide animals that will become clothing, utensils, and food. That is, Ochek’s hunting shows a way that the land provides. It’s one aspect of the special relationship that Askí’s animal-beings have with the land.

The land in Askí also has cultural significance to the animal beings, beyond the ways it provides food and resources. The land is also used in spiritual ways. It offers sweetgrass for ceremonies, and Ochek often says prayers for the resources the land provides. Ochek has a special relationship with the land.

Much the same, the original inhabitants of what is now Canada have a special relationship with the land. This special relationship is recognized in Canadian law, through Aboriginal Rights. These are rights that belong to Indigenous Peoples. It is important to understand that although these rights are recognized in Canadian law they were not created by Canadian law. They are inherent rights Indigenous Peoples have based on their prior occupation of what is now Canada. Many Indigenous Peoples view limits placed on these rights under Canadian law as an infringement of their inherent rights.

Under Canadian law Indigenous Peoples have the right to continue their practices, customs and traditions that existed before contact. The activity can evolve over time. For instance, hunting with weapons that did not exist pre-contact is an example of a right changing over time. The present-day activity only must be connected to a pre-contact activity.

Under Canadian law, every pre-contact activity did not create an Aboriginal Right. Activities that were an essential part of the group’s traditional culture became Aboriginal Rights.

Examples of rights that have been recognized by courts include a right to fish for food, ceremonial and social purposes, a right to sell fish, a right to hunt, and a right to harvest timber.

Courts have ruled that these rights are not general rights of all Indigenous Peoples. They belong to the specific group claiming the right because the activity was an essential part of their culture before contact. The right can be exercised over the area where they were historically exercised.

Canadian law is similar when it comes to Métis rights. Métis Peoples have the right to continue the practices, customs and traditions that existed after contact but before colonial powers controlled the area they inhabited. The activity must have been an essential part of the Métis community’s culture.

To exercise these rights the person must identify as a Métis person, be an accepted member of a present-day Métis community, and have ties to a historic Métis community. For example, the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized the Métis right to hunt for food as an Aboriginal Right.

Hence, across The Barren Grounds we see many activities and instances that are culturally-significant to Askí’s animal-beings. Each instance of this in the novel can help remind us of the special relationship that the original inhabitants of what is now Canada have with the land.