A member of a Washington tribe has the right to exercise his indigenous rights and hunt across the border in British Columbia. So ruled the Canadian Supreme Court on April 23.
The case was brought by Rick Desautel, of the Lakes Tribe of the Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) who had crossed into B.C. to hunt elk on land where his tribe the Sinixt once roamed.
Desautel was charged for hunting without a license and for hunting without Canadian citizenship. He was twice acquitted by lower courts that held he was exercising his rights as a member of an indigenous community. Twice the government appealed.
The Supreme Court ruled that Native Americans whose aboriginal territory was on both sides of the international board can claim aboriginal rights in Canada, without being residents or citizens.
The Lakes Tribe’s Chairwoman of the Culture Committee, Karen Condon, commented, “It’s such a relief to know that Canada, as well as the U.S., have come quite a ways with regard to how they treat Indigenous people. By winning the decision in the Canadian Supreme Court, it shows that Canada is more receptive to working with tribal people. That in and of itself is a huge victory.”
Members of other tribes say the ruling frees them up to go back and forth across the border to visit friends and family without having to answer for themselves to the authorities.
One member “[I]t’s certainly an Aboriginal right to be able to go past the border established by the European community—to be able to go back and forth visiting your family without having to ask special permission.”
