A B.C. First Nation is reacting angrily to lawsuits filed by a U.S. Indigenous group against the B.C. government.
On Wednesday, the Sinixt filed two lawsuits seeking to be included in land use consultation for their traditional territory in B.C. and to have their history included in the school curriculum.
The lawsuits build on a 2021 Supreme Court of Canada decision, which confirmed the Sinixt are an Aboriginal people of Canada, who were driven from their traditional territories in B.C. by colonial expansion and the drawing of the Canada-U.S. border in the 19th century.
However, the B.C.-based Syilx Okanagan Nation is calling the lawsuits “disappointing,” saying it is the rights and title holder for that region and agreeing with the B.C. government’s approach.
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“It’s not appropriate for British Columbia or Canada to consult with U.S. tribal members to the extent that they are going to open the doors for Aboriginal title, that they’re gonna open up the doors to share in all the resources, that all the timber and royalties and minerals, everything else go to them in the United States,” Chief Clarence Louie of the Sylix Okanagan Nation told Global News.
“They’re U.S. citizens, plain and simple.”
On Thursday, B.C. Premier David Eby said at an unrelated news conference in Surrey that the province’s obligations are not to Indigenous people in the United States.
He said the province had spoken with Louie and the Syilx Okanagan Nation about the Sinixt lawsuit.
“We’re going to work with the Okanagan Nation and with First Nations in British Columbia to ensure that Indigenous people in British Columbia and in Canada are the sole concern of the provincial government and the federal government,” Eby said.
The lawsuits come after a decision by the B.C. Supreme Court in August, which affirmed that the Cowichan Tribes have Aboriginal title in a 750-hectare land parcel in Richmond, which includes city and port lands, farms, golf courses and commercial properties.
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