Sinixt Tribe Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

‘We’re Still Here:’ Washington’s Sinixt Tribe Defends Hunting Rights And Fight For Canadian Recognition

By Emily Schwing September 20, 2018

For nearly a decade, Desautel, who is a U.S. citizen living in Washington, has been making his way through British Columbia’s court system. He’s trying to reinstate his indigenous rights north of the border. His is a case about tribal sovereignty, recognition and reconciliation in Canada.Read More

In Canadian Court, Washington Tribal Member Again Argues For Indigenous Identity And Hunting Rights

By Emily Schwing September 12, 2018

More than 40 people – many from Washington state – piled into a courtroom in Vancouver, British Columbia Wednesday, Sept. 12, to hear arguments in a long-running case regarding indigenous rights in Canada.Read More

After Six Decades Of ‘Extinction’ In Canada, Sinixt Tribal Members Celebrate Their Homecoming

By Emily Schwing March 30, 2018

Artwork to commemorate the day a trial judge acquitted Sinixt descendant and Washington resident Rick Desautel of illegal hunting was created by Chief Rice, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville.

Over the past decade, surviving Sinixt tribal members who live in Washington have waged a legal battle to get their rights and access to traditional territory back. They recently celebrated their victories at an honor ceremony in British Columbia.Read More

Northwest Museums Revive Native American Artifacts To Tell Richer Stories

By Emily Schwing February 2, 2018

Sven Haakanson, the curator of North American Anthropology at the Burke Museum, says he wants exhibits at the new museum to speak to the resiliency of North America's Native people.

Museum curators in the Northwest are now working to update exhibits that focus on the region’s indigenous people. They are trying to do that in a way that both modernizes stories of indigenous people and tells them more truthfully. Read More

British Columbia Files Second Appeal Of Washington Man’s Tribal Sovereignty Case

By Emily Schwing January 29, 2018

File photo of the roof of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria, BC.File photo of the roof of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria, BC.

British Columbia is taking the next step in a decade-long battle over native tribal rights. The province has filed paperwork to appeal a decision that granted Washington state tribal members rights to their ancestral lands in Canada.Read More

Fight Over Sovereign Tribal Rights Spanning U.S. – Canada Border Could Be Nearing End

By Emily Schwing January 12, 2018

Tribal members are waiting for the next move from British Columbia’s provincial government in a long-running battle over sovereign rights. Rick Desautel is one of roughly 4,000 Sinixt tribal members who live on the Colville Reservation in northeastern Washington state.Read More