Supreme Court Upholds Indigenous Hunting Rights

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in favour of a U.S. Indigenous man’s right to hunt in Canada.

Richard Desautel is a member of the Lakes Tribe in Washington state, and in 2010, he was charged with hunting near Castlegar without a licence. He argued he is a member of the Sinixt, and was hunting in his traditional territory, as protected under Section 35 of the constitution. Many members of the Sinixt unwillingly moved to a Washington state reservation, and Canada declared the nation extinct, after the last remaining member in B.C. died.

The supreme court upheld the lower courts’ acquittals and affirmations of his constitutional rights.