Due to the impacts of colonization, with the Sinixt (Lakes) People being forced due to safety concerns to leave their territory and then being erroneously declared extinct by the Government of Canada in 1956, there are currently complex disputes and overlapping land claims regarding the boundaries of traditional territories.   It is also important to know that despite the Royal Proclamation of 1769, which mandated treaty-making into British and Canadian Law, no treaties were signed in most of the current province of BC.  Modern day treaty negotiations are currently underway in this territory.   

Due to violence during the gold rush and from early white settlers, some Sinixt people joined other Indian Bands in Canada, such as bands of the Ktunaxa, Sylix and Secwepmec Nations (Goodale et al., 2022, p. 38)).   Many members of the Sinixt went south and joined southern relatives on the Colville Confederated Tribes Reservation.  After being set aside as a reserve under the directive of Governor James Douglas, in the 1920s land at k’pit’els (now Castlegar) was unscrupulously sold out from under the last remaining Sinixt family (the Christian family), to the Dukhobors, Russian settlers, in what is now the Brilliant subdivision near the Brilliant Cultural Centre. (Wilkinson and Sutherland, 2012)  There was a ceremony of apology in 2009 from the Dukobour community to Sinixt descendant Lawney Reyes (Nesteroff, 2022) acknowledging this harm.  Here is more information about the ceremony.

     Thanks to the Canadian Supreme Court's Desautel Decision (2021) the Sinixt people, including those who joined the Colville Confederated Tribes, have been validated as being rights holders in their traditional territory in Canada.  For the past 2 years they have celebrated with a canoe journey and ceremonies in Nelson and around the region, as they begin to return to their homeland.   This fall they opened a new office in Nelson related to caretaking the land and wildlife. They have also created a new website to educate the public:   www.sinixt.com

     For the past several decades, Sinixt descendant Bob Campbell and Marilyn James, a member of the Syilx Okanagan Nation claiming Sinixt ancestry, and their families have been occupying Sinixt traditional territory in the Slocan Valley. (Wonders, 2010)  In 1987, a road being built uncovered Sinixt pit houses, burial grounds and artifacts.  The BC Government didn't consult with Sinixt descendants about the find, but under the guidance of Elder Eva Orr, Sinixt protesters established "the longest ongoing aboriginal protest in Canada" (Wonders, 2010). James, Campbell and supporters created the Autonomous Sinixt  who claim to be the traditional governance holders of the area based on Smem ium, a traditional matriarchal model of governance inherited through Sinixt Elder Eva Orr.   James' claims to represent the Sinixt Nation as a matriarch are disputed by Sinixt of the Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) who have accused James of cultural appropriation (Metcalf, 2022). James has been working with non-Indigenous allies for over 30 years in this area to caretake the important cultural site and working with school districts, developing Sinixt educational resources and school programs without consultation with the CCT.

      As a settler educator,  I don't feel comfortable making judgements about which group of Sinixt people should be represented in this website and so I include voices from both groups.   It is important to understand that Indigenous communities include a variety of voices and opinions.   Due to the damaging effects of colonization, the Sinixt people are only now beginning to feel safe in their own traditional territory.  With their renewed presence on the land and in relationship with each other once again, we can hope that reconciliation will be possible in time.

Here is my blog post from July 2022 about the controversial topic of Who is Indigenous and who gets to decide?