The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) donated hundreds of pounds of fresh moose meat to local organizations, including the food bank on Friday.
Members of the PAGC brought in three moose on a traditional hunting trip in the area around Hudson Bay and delivered the meat to the food bank for clients in Prince Albert.
“We have roast, we have hamburgers from ground moose, there’s stew meat,” said PAGC vice-chief Joe Tsannie. “There’s a variety of different types of meats. We had it all packaged up.”
Food Bank director Kim Scruby says he expects the meat will be picked up quickly, as the demand for hampers remains high.
“That’s roughly three people per hamper,” said Scruby. “Just under 50 per cent of which are children. This is going to make a huge difference for a lot of households in Prince Albert.”
“[Because of] the high cost of food, a lot of times, our children don’t get the proper food that they need,” said Tsannie. “Some [people] always say that our children are going to school hungry because of the high cost of food and energy bills that we have in our communities.”
The group went hunting during the extreme cold, when moose are more likely to be active.
“Traditional hunting is about, cultural identity, food security and sustainability,” said PAGC education department member Vince Brittain.
Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte said it was an honour to help the community, “and to help out in the situation that we’re in right now.”
The PAGC says the donation is part of its commitment to fostering food sovereignty and sharing resources, and that it would like to make this donation annually.
The same amount of meat is also being donated to the Salvation Army.
