Cree leadership urges halt to caribou hunting as numbers fall

For generations, caribou have sustained Cree families, their culture and their way of life. Now, that relationship is at a critical moment, as the Leaf River herd population continues to decline.

The Cree Nation Government (CNG) have issued a territory-wide call to pause caribou hunting, urging Cree not to harvest across Eeyou Istchee, the traditional territory of the Cree of northern Quebec.

“We're going to have a hard time blaming somebody else for this issue because it is only First Nations that are hunting right now. We need to step up and be proactive,” said Paul John Murdoch, who is the grand chief of Eeyou Istchee.

This decision was based on consultation from land users and study results from the Quebec government, said Murdoch.

Leaf River herd consisted of approximately 136,000 caribou in 2025, down from 175,000 in 2024, according to wildlife studies.

In 2000, the herd's population was 600,000.

That's more than a 75 per cent decline in 25 years.

The Leaf River herd roams across northern Quebec, migrating across family traplines from Chisasibi, Whapmagoostui, and south of the Trans-Taiga Road and east into Naskapi territory.

Recent studies from the government of Quebec also show that lately, the herd are travelling more south during the winter, possibly because of climate change, 2023 forest fires and mining exploration.

“It began on the ground with the land users. It's our land users that are probably most sensitive to this. That's where the alarm bell was rung from,” said Murdoch.

According to Murdoch, meetings in Chisasibi — a Cree community of about 5,000 residents on the shore of James Bay — brought together Cree tallymen, land users and community members to discuss the issue.

“We had one land user talking to us about finding unusually thin caribou or caribou that had died in very bizarre situations and circumstances. The population is definitely fragile,” said Murdoch.

A study back in 2024 found that female caribou calves weigh less during the winter — about 43 kilograms, compared with a healthy average of over 50 kilograms. It suggested poor habitat quality, high energy costs from long migrations, and greater vulnerability to disease and extreme weather could be the reasons why.

Murdoch is also noticing fewer caribou.

“My wife and I were remembering how long it would take to get home because of the herds of caribou on the Billy Diamond Highway. We didn't see one this year,” said Murdoch.

He said some population estimates from the Quebec government and land users are alarming.

Rene Neacappo, a tallyman from Chisasibi, said this isn’t the first time that caribou have decreased in population.

“Sometimes they are not here for 50 or 60 years. I must have been 12 or 14 years old when the caribou came back. It has been foretold that caribou would decrease again and come back,” said Neacappo, who is now 60 years old.

As a tallyman, Neacappo oversees hunting, fishing and trapping in an area referred to as CH31. It's also where his own family trapline, one of the most remote in the territory, is located.

He remembers his late father, Bobby Neacappo, telling him that caribou, despite facing famine, have their own ways of conserving natural resources on the land.

"Sometimes white moss takes a lot of time to grow back. That's why the herd chooses different routes. They eat the white moss but only half way through,” said Neacappo.

Neacappo said he’s hopeful that the caribou will repopulate, just like his father told him.

Murdoch, the grand chief of Eeyou Istchee, said that Cree accountability will be a factor moving forward, as Cree are the only people allowed to hunt within the territory.

“The government of Quebec did ban all non-Native sport hunting of caribou in 2018. That's a big deal,” said Murdoch.

Murdoch said that Eeyou Istchee has a moral obligation culturally and spiritually not to hunt the herd. He says that the restraint was from advice of the land users, and that community members are showing no objection.

A press release from the Cree Nation Government urges Cree to halt all hunting of caribou, and to encourage other neighbouring Indigenous peoples, such as the Naskapi and Inuit, to do the same.

“We have a population that is so in tuned to the natural cycle and I think if the rest of us can get behind and support, it will help,” said Murdoch.

CBC News asked what consequences there might be for someone found harvesting from the herd. The Cree Nation Government did not respond by publication time.

“I have an enormous amount of faith in the wisdom of nature. So let's do what we can, get out of nature's way to make sure they heal and let nature play out its course,” said Murdoch.

LISTEN | Rene Neacappo:

Eyou Dipajimoon (Cree)20:56Chisasibi tallyman Rene Neacappo comments on the health of the Leaf River caribou herd

A recent survey shows that the Leaf River caribou herd has declined as much as 75 percent over the pas 25 years. We spoke with Rene Neacappo, a tallyman from Chisasibi, to talk about what this herd means to him and to Cree culture.