[walking buffalo]

I'm still trying to grasp WHY the MNA and those supporting the EXTENSION of subsistence hunting continue to express that without these ADDITIONAL rights, their culture is being suppressed and endangered.

Actually, I'm not....... The court case is a power grab. The beginning of a broad natural resources claim.

If a culture is depends upon the government for survival and vitality, is there really a viable culture to preserve?

As mentioned before, I'm a person of European descent, and I have been fortunate to be adopted into the "inside" circle of several Aboriginal Nations within Canada and the USA. I have the privelage (earned) to be included in ceremony and elder/leader meetings. Having and continueing to participate in the culture of Treaty and non-Treaty Nations, my knowledge of how these Nation's culture strenghtens or weakens is first hand, not from a google search or rumour. IMO, The strength of a culture must be independant of government support, and government suppression, external and internal.

While I personally feel that the Metis argument for constitutional special rights is weak, they have been successful in getting special constitutional recognition. With this recognition, the Powley decision has already defined the parameters of their subsistance hunting rights, and Alberta quickly met those standards for their Metis citizens. The continued fight for additional rights goes beyond what is being agreed to in new Treaties and agreements with many Aboriginal Nations. Look at the NWT, Nunavut, or BC. There are territorial restrictions to harvesting rights. The Metis in Alberta are asking for broader hunting and fishing rights than are being agreed to by Northern Aboriginal Nations.

Flint, For a person with so much to say, I would expect you to have more accurate knowledge of the topic.

Homo Sapiens evolved from Homo Erectus in the northern climes of Europe and Asia. Environmental conditions forced the selection of individual Homo Erectus with the ability to "hunt" over "scavengers/gatherers". These individuals became a new species, Homo sapien. From here, Homo Sapiens expanded their range southward and East (all the way East to North America over Beringia).

SO if you really want to talk about tradition and history, the human hunters with the longest track record are from Europe and Asia. You know, the ancestors of North American aboriginal people.