Floyd Cook (left), a Land Based Coordinator with the PAGC, and Vincent Brittain, Director for Urban Services and the Relatives’ Lodge, stand next to the 1,300 pounds of moose meat that was harvested during a successful hunt near Porcupine Plain in January. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

By Logan Lehmann

Feeding a village

PAGC donates over half a tonne of moose meat to emergency shelter following successful hunt

Feb 26, 2026 | 3:00 PM

Boxes upon boxes of moose meat were dropped off at the Prince Albert Grand Council’s (PAGC) emergency shelter in Prince Albert on Thursday.

The annual winter hunt took place roughly a month ago near Porcupine Plain, when eight members from the PAGC caught three bull moose totalling 1,300 pounds of meat. The protein will be distributed through the PAGC’s Relatives’ Lodge, located within the main grandstand on the Prince Albert Exhibition grounds.

Vincent Brittain, Director for PAGC Urban Services and the Relatives’ Lodge, was one of the hunters and said the idea came from PAGC Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte. 

“He’s the one who initiated it and wanted to go hunting. He said we need to do this hunt, and we need to give back to the community. So I said, ‘Okay, well, we need that food sovereignty.’ You know, the high price of meat is very costly. So what we did was he ended up getting a group text of the people who go hunting within the Grand Council.”  

Via a press release, Grand Chief Hardlotte said that providing for one another within the PAGC is part of their identity, and that “access to traditional foods is not only about sustenance, it is about culture, responsibility and taking care of one another.” 

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In addition to Grand Chief Hardlotte and Brittain, the other six people on the hunt consisted of Ernie Hardlotte Sr., Ernie Hardlotte Jr., Floyd Cook, Ed Mirasty, David Sanderson, and Geoff Despin. 

Cook, a Land-Based Coordinator with the PAGC, explained some of the Indigenous traditions they did during the hunt. 

“Some of the traditions we follow is laying down tobacco and saying prayer and thanks for the animal that we harvested. Some of the guys there had a fire going and actually cooked some of the organs while they were out there. It’s an old Cree tradition that we follow for Woodland Cree just to honour the animal and for a successful hunt for the next time.” 

He added the hides from the moose were donated to the Bernice Sayese Centre, as they had previously put in a request for some. 

Brittain continued that no part of the animals went to waste. 

“Heart, kidneys, moose nose, eyes – all of those things are used in some shape or form. Everything is utilized and everything is eaten.” 

In Saskatchewan, Treaty and Aboriginal hunting rights are constitutionally protected under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and enforced via the 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Agreement (NRTA). These rights allow First Nations to hunt for food, ceremonial, or subsistence purposes on unoccupied Crown land or land they have a right of access to, without needing a provincial license.  

When asked about the importance of First Nations people exercising their hunting rights, Brittain became emotional while saying he feels those rights are slowly being taken away. 

“When you start looking at those kinds of things of traditional hunting, it is important that treaty rights are upheld and that there should not be any lines drawn in the sand and saying, ‘Oh, you can’t go hunt.’ But in actuality, that is our treaty right. A long time ago, we went hunting and fishing and now there’s all these jurisdictions that are coming into place. I just want to make sure that we are doing our traditional treaty rights of hunting.” 

Relatives’ Lodge provides overnight accommodations and three meals daily to adults experiencing homelessness in Prince Albert and surrounding communities. Clients are also connected with income assistance, housing supports and referrals to detox, treatment and health services. 

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com