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Richard Desautel and Family in Nelson, 2022

A colour photograph of an Indigenous man wearing a black ballcap with a blue feather pattern on front. He is wearing a dark blue button-down shirt, with Indigenous red and blue patterns, and holding a ceremonial staff decorated with fur, feathers, and beads. To his left is a young Indigenous woman with braided hair, and wearing a dark grey patterned hoodie. On his right is an adult Indigenous woman wearing a patterned dress and a jean jacket. All of them are smiling. Behind them are a few other people who are not in focus, and a green banner. They are standing in a treed area.

Mike Graeme Photography.

In 2010, Richard Desautel, a Sinixt man from Inchelium, Washington, crossed the border into Canada and shot an elk for ceremonial purposes without a valid Canadian hunting license. This was a deliberate action to trigger a journey through the British Columbia and Canadian courts. The end result was a Supreme Court of Canada decision in April of 2021 affirming that the Sinixt were Indigenous people of Canada and that they could claim Aboriginal rights in Canada. The Sinixt or Arrow Lakes First Nation had been declared extinct in Canada for purposes of the Indian Act in 1956.

On June 10, 2022, Desautel and about 100 other Sinixt people from Washington gathered in Nelson, B.C. to celebrate the Supreme Court decision. Richard Desautel is seen here with granddaughter Bea (left) and daughter Francesca (right) at the ceremony in Nelson.