Canada Top Court Rules US-based First Nation has Cross-border Rights

OTTAWA - Canada's Supreme Court ruled on Friday that U.S.-based descendants of the Sinixt Indigenous nation maintained ancestral land rights in Canada, a landmark decision that opens the door to other groups with similar ties to assert their rights on matters from hunting to environmental concerns.

The ruling means any U.S.-based Indigenous group whose ancestors lived in Canada before first contact with Europeans could claim rights laid out in Canada's constitution. The case was brought by Rick Desautel, a Sinixt descendant who lives in Washington state. In 2010, he shot an elk without a hunting license on traditional Sinixt lands in British Columbia, intending to force the question of whether his ancestral ties would be recognized across the border. Canada's constitution guarantees the right of Indigenous people to hunt in their traditional lands.