Native leaders in Nova Scotia say they'll continue to fight for logging rights despite a Supreme Court ruling that Mi'kmaq in the province don't have a treaty claim to log commercially on Crown lands without a permit.

"It wasn't the outcome we were expecting, but it's not the end of the battle," said Reginald Maloney, former chief of the Indian Brook First Nation.

The Supreme Court looked at two cases, one in Nova Scotia and another in New Brunswick.

In a pair of unanimous decisions Wednesday, the court found that treaties signed in 1760-61 only granted the Mi'kmaq the right to continue trade in items traditionally traded at that time, and there was no evidence to prove Mi'kmaq were logging 250 years ago.

"In order to be protected under those treaties, trade in forest products must be the modern equivalent or a logical evolution of Mi'kmaq use of forest products at the time the treaties were signed," the court wrote.

"Logging is not a logical evolution of the activities traditionally engaged in by Mi'kmaq at the time the treaties were entered into."

The judges also ruled that aboriginals in New Brunswick did not have title to the lands they were trying to log.

Maloney said he's disappointed the court put the burden of proof on Mi'kmaq to assert their rights.

"I think the burden is an impossible burden," he said. "We don't have the history or the evidence that is needed in order put a case forward. Unless that changes, it's going to be very difficult for First Nations people to make progress with their rights in this country."

Natives will keep pressing

If Canada's top court had ruled in favour of native logging rights, the decision could have had a major impact on Nova Scotia's billion-dollar forestry industry.

Private forestry companies that lease Crown lands and employ thousands of people were worried that granting these rights would create chaos in the industry.

But aboriginal leaders had hoped a ruling in their favour would lessen their economic dependence on government and change their lives overnight.

"The court has stated there may be other times and other cases where aboriginal treaty rights will still be upheld, just not in this particular case. The evidence wasn't there," said Chief Dwight Dorey, national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

"So it's important for us to continue to press the government" to resolve outstanding issues outside the court, he said.

Lawyers for the native loggers say there's still room to move ahead on cutting timber to make manufactured products. Since canoes were traded with white settlers 250 years ago, they argue, it's possible to claim that natives can become involved in cutting trees to make boats today.

The lawyers also say there are still arguments to be made that Mi'kmaq should be allowed to cut timber for personal use to build houses.

Cases involved members of 2 First Nations

The first of the two cases before the high court dated back to 1998, when Joshua Bernard of the New Brunswick Eel Ground First Nation was arrested for taking logs to a sawmill. He was charged with illegal possession.

In the second case, involving Stephen Marshall of the Millbrook First Nation, 34 Mi'kmaq loggers were charged with illegally logging in Nova Scotia.

The two men argued they had the right to earn a living by logging on Crown lands because of the treaties signed in 1760-1761.

Ottawa and the provinces argued that aboriginals were not conducting commercial logging as it exists today when the treaties were signed.

"Obviously, I'm very disappointed in the outcome," said Bernard. "I guess the best way to describe how I feel is [that] despite of what was said or what ruling came down, I still feel I have the right to harvest Crown timber."

Nova Scotia's minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Michael Baker, said the court decision would not affect the province's ongoing negotiations with the Mi'kmaq.

"We've made solid progress with our made-in-Nova Scotia negotiations, which continue to include looking at options for further Mi'kmaq participation in the forest industry," Baker said in a news release.

The forestry industry creates about 17,000 direct and indirect jobs in Nova Scotia. About 25 per cent of the forest resources in the province are owned by the Nova Scotia government.