View of Okanagan Lake from Gray Monk Estate Winery on Aug. 7, 2022.Sarah B Groot/The Globe and Mail
One of the most powerful Indigenous alliances in Canada is opening a new campaign to sideline a tribal group in the U.S. that has claimed the right to influence development and resources in a large swath of British Columbia.
The Okanagan Nation Alliance, the group in Canada, says governments and industry need to limit the influence of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, a group based in eastern Washington whose claims challenge the nature of the U.S.-Canada border. The Colville Tribes argue they deserve a say in how companies build projects in large parts of southern B.C. – and a share of money flowing from hydroelectric dams in the region.
The Okanagan, who are launching their new effort Monday in the midst of B.C.’s provincial election, have already gained one high-profile political ally in their fight: David Eby, the B.C. NDP Leader, who is running for re-election as premier.
It is the first major conflict to break open between Indigenous groups on opposite sides of the border after a landmark Canadian Supreme Court decision said those in the U.S. can be considered Aboriginal peoples of Canada if they can show historical use of land that is now Canadian. Since then, tribes in the U.S. have asserted rights to be consulted on a port expansion, new precious metal mines, timber harvesting and a ski resort in B.C.
Last year, the Colville Tribes opened an office in Nelson, B.C., a beachhead to allow the group to pursue its claim to be the only rightful successor to the Lakes people, a group whose Indigenous distinctness was noted by early explorers and cartographers before Canada declared it extinct in 1956.
That same year, a B.C. atlas showed the Lakes Tribe historically occupying roughly 40,000 square kilometres of B.C., an area roughly the size of Nova Scotia.
But much of that land overlaps with areas claimed by members of the Okanagan Nation Alliance, which is now mounting a high-profile outreach effort in hopes of convincing local politicians, bureaucrats, industry and even the Prime Minister’s Office that the Okanagan peoples are the successors in Canada to the Lakes Tribe, also known as the Sinixt. The descendants of the Sinixt live among the Okanagan.
“Sinixt, quite frankly, are peoples within the Okanagan Nation,” said Chief Robert Louie of the Westbank First Nation.
The Colville claim, he said, is “false. Ridiculous. Nonsense from our perspective.” If the Colville are successful, he warned, Indigenous peoples across Canada will see similar efforts by their counterparts in the U.S. to assert claims north of the border.
“That is a huge, huge Pandora’s box that better be closed quick – and governments have to wake up to that fact,” he said. The Okanagan will, if necessary, fight to preserve their land in court, he added. “It will be defended to the nth degree.”
The Colville, however, believe Canadian jurisprudence is on their side.
The group is made up of 12 tribes, one of which continues to use the name Lakes. An ethnographic history produced by the B.C. Ministry of the Attorney General concludes that the Lakes Tribe is “a successor group” of the historic Lakes group.
As a result, “the Lakes Tribe is an Aboriginal people of Canada,” the Supreme Court of Canada found in 2021. In that case, it ruled that a Colville hunter named Richard Desautel had the right to kill an elk in land once occupied by the Lakes in B.C.
Historical records show some Lakes people were forced out of Canada to make way for mining and hydroelectric development. “Afterwards, of course, other tribes moved in. Now they see there’s financial gains to be made there, moving into that territory,” said Jarred-Michael Erickson, who chairs the Colville Business Council.
The Colville, he said, are “just trying to get back to our traditional territory.”
The Okanagan, however, can now claim high-level political support for their argument. Mr. Eby, the NDP Leader, has aligned with Mr. Louie, the Westbank Chief. The two said in a joint statement that “First Nations located in B.C. must always be the priority and primary focus of all levels of government including the province of B.C.”
Groups outside Canada can be legally entitled to notice about some projects, but only “in some limited circumstances,” the statement says.
The government of B.C., under NDP leadership, has recently sought Colville input.
In mid-September, for example, an e-mail from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport to the Westbank First Nation, which was shared with The Globe and Mail, said the proposed expansion of the Big White ski resort near Kelowna lies “within the Sinixt consultative area,” and that the province was “awaiting a response to determine the degree to which they wish to be involved in this process.”
The B.C. government and Big White both declined to comment.
Earlier this summer, B.C. adopted a different approach with tribes in Alaska that fear B.C. mining projects will harm their fisheries. In June, the province issued an order barring tribes in Alaska from participating as Indigenous nations in the environmental assessments of six mines until Sept. 15, 2027.
“They said, ‘We’ll consult with you outside of that process,’” said John Gailus, a Victoria lawyer who has represented several Indigenous groups in the U.S. But that amounts to notification and not proper consultation, he said.
“The government’s taking a very cynical approach – trying to actually turn the B.C. First Nations against the Washington state and the Alaska tribes,” he said.
With the Colville and Okanagan, both sides say they are motivated by a desire to protect historical lands, relics and traditions.
The two groups share similar languages and were close enough to sign a unity declaration in 2010, pledging to jointly pursue economic expansion, cultural rejuvenation and even title claims.
That declaration, however, was abandoned two years ago as relations deteriorated. A cross-border project to use lynx from B.C. to restore populations in Washington state has similarly foundered.
Money is another issue. In B.C., one Okanagan band has agreed to co-operate on development of a proposed magnesium mine, which would be situated in traditional Lakes territory.
Okanagan members are also receiving millions of dollars a year in revenue from hydroelectric dams that flooded ancient Lakes people settlements. The Colville believe they have a claim to that cash.
“All that money should be going to Sinixt,” said Mr. Erickson, referring to the Sinixt Confederacy, a name the Colville have used in B.C. “That’s our traditional territory. No other tribe was there.”