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Appeal Of Tribal Sovereignty Case Means Washington Man Is Back In Canadian Court

Rick Desautel, his family and other Sinixt descendent celebrated outside the courthouse in Nelson, BC after a trial judge acquitted him of illegal hunting charges in March, 2017.
Emily Schwing
/
Northwest News Network
Rick Desautel, his family and other Sinixt descendent celebrated outside the courthouse in Nelson, BC after a trial judge acquitted him of illegal hunting charges in March, 2017.
Rick Desautel, his family and other Sinixt descendent celebrated outside the courthouse in Nelson, BC after a trial judge acquitted him of illegal hunting charges in March, 2017.
Credit Emily Schwing / Northwest News Network
/
Northwest News Network
Rick Desautel, his family and other Sinixt descendent celebrated outside the courthouse in Nelson, BC after a trial judge acquitted him of illegal hunting charges in March, 2017.

  A Washington man with tribal roots in Canada is back in court Wednesday in British Columbia. The nearly decade-long case could set precedent for tribal sovereignty issues in Canada.

More than a year and a half ago, Rick Desautel was acquitted for hunting as a non-resident and without a license in Canada. In 2009, Desautel knowingly shot an elk illegally, because he wanted to exercise his aboriginal rights.

Desautel is American. He lives in northeastern Washington on Colville Reservation. He’s also a descendent of the Sinixt tribe.

Traditional Sinixt territory stretches from the Colville Reservation north to Revelstoke, British Columbia. The Canadian government issued an extinction declaration for the Sinixt in Canada, after the last surviving member there passed away in 1956.

The case is now at the Canadian Court of Appeals in Vancouver. The Provincial government. is concerned about Canadian border security. Following this appeal, the case could go to the Canadian Supreme Court in Ottawa.

Copyright 2018 Northwest News Network

Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.