Tsilhqot’in move to ban non-native moose hunting

by Monica Lamb-Yorski, Williams Lake Tribune, July 12, 2018

The Tsilhqot’in National Government (TNG) will be attempting to ban Limited Entry Hunt (LEH) licenses for moose hunting in its territory this fall.

TNG tribal chair Chief Joe Alphonse said during an emergency meeting held Tuesday at Tl’esqox (Riske Creek), he received full endorsement from leadership to pursue a legal challenge against the LEH allocations for 2018.

Taseko Mines halts exploration on New Prosperity in face of disputes

Fish Lake, site of the proposed New Prosperity Mine by Taseko.

by Derrick Penner, The Province, August 14, 2017

Taseko Mines has suspended plans for exploration work around its proposed New Prosperity copper-gold mine in the Cariboo Chilcotin in the face of legal disputes, a company official said.

First Nation to use blockades if needed to protect ancient B.C. burial site

Joe Alphonse, tribal chairman of the Tsilhqot’in Nation, is pictured at Farwell Canyon, B.C., in a 2014 file photo. The First Nation is remembering a warrior chief who was wrongfully hanged 151 years ago and say they won’t allow another injustice to be done to their ancestor. (JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

by CAMILLE BAINS, The Canadian Press, July 18, 2016

Members of a British Columbia First Nation are remembering a warrior chief who was wrongfully hanged 151 years ago and say they won’t allow another injustice to be done to their ancestor.

The First Nation says a service was held Monday at the site of a high school in New Westminster, B.C., which was built atop a former cemetery where the remains of Tsilhqot’in war Chief Ahan may have been buried after he was executed on July 18, 1865.

Tsilhqot’in enact laws to govern territory after historic court win

Chief Roger William of Xeni Gwet’in speaks at a news conference where UBCIC chiefs react to a Supreme Court Decision on the aboriginal title appeal, in Vancouver June 26, 2014.
Photograph by: Nick Procaylo , PNG.

The Vancouver Sun/Canadian Press, March 20, 2015

WILLIAMS LAKE – A British Columbia aboriginal nation granted rights and title by Canada’s high court has introduced its own laws governing its territory and resources within the area.

The Tsilhqot’in National Government has enacted the so-called Nemiah Declaration that prevents mining and commercial logging, stops commercial road building and requires visitors to get permission before entering the land.

B.C. First Nations leaders upset after Victoria extends mine permit without consultation

Tsilhqot’in First Nation chief Joe Alphonse says it should be illegal for the provincial government to extend the permit for a controversial mining project near Williams Lake without his band’s permission.
Photograph by: NICK PROCAYLO , PNG

By Laura Kane, The Province/Canadian Press, January 16, 2015

VANCOUVER — First Nations leaders are dismayed that the British Columbia government has extended environmental assessment certificates for two controversial mine projects.

The province granted a five-year extension to a certificate that had been given to an earlier version of the New Prosperity mine near Williams Lake.

The Tulsequah Chief mine, in the province’s northwest, has been determined to have “substantially started,” meaning the certificate will remain in effect for the life of the project.

Tsilhqot’in Nation members live in the area where the New Prosperity gold and copper mine would be built. Chief Joe Alphonse says it should be illegal for the province to grant an extension without his band’s consent.

Tsilhqot’in land ruling was a game changer for B.C.

Chief Roger William, right, of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation is flanked by chiefs and other officials as he pauses while speaking during a news conference in Vancouver after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, granting it land title to 438,000 hectares of land. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

The Tsilhqot’in, after years of being ignored by government, now a priority for B.C.’s premier

By Duncan McCue, CBC News, Dec 23, 2014

The sun had yet to rise in British Columbia on June 26, when a group of Tsilhqot’in chiefs congregated with legal advisers to receive their copy of a long-awaited decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.

By 6:01 a.m. PT, it was clear: the highest court in the land had issued B.C. quite a wake-up call.

As First Nations leaders began expressing joy and surprise on social media, myself and other groggy reporters nursing coffees hustled to a hastily called press conference, where chiefs triumphantly proclaimed the decision a “game changer.”

First Nations mistaken in their celebration of Supreme Court ruling

By Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun, June 29, 2014

“Welcome to Colonial Courtrooms,” should have been the title of the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark aboriginal rights judgment.

While B.C. natives were busy last week celebrating the court’s affirmation of their “aboriginal title,” they should have paid closer attention to the fine print.  In spite of all the hand-wringing about threats to resource development and the land mass of B.C., this is a big victory for governments.  In the unanimous 8-0 decision, which dismissed with nary a nod the last half century of strident native assertions of sovereignty, the high court said B.C. natives are not unlike any other litigant squatter.

Pipeline prospects take a hit as Supreme Court grants land title to B.C. First Nation

Aboriginal communities’ land claims have become much more viable, making future resource development iffier

Dwight Newman, Financial Post, June 26, 2014

The Supreme Court of Canada has just released its latest take on the rules on Aboriginal title – and the first declaration of Aboriginal title in Canadian history. Its groundbreaking decision concerning the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s claims has the potential to reshape aspects of Canadian resource development more broadly. To understand why, we need to back up a bit to understand what the case has changed on Aboriginal title and why that matters.

Aboriginal title is the form of ownership Aboriginal communities hold over unceded lands that they regularly and exclusively used in the past. It is not identical to but is analogous to the fee simple title that private landowners hold, with the important difference that the courts have always considered Aboriginal title land to be collectively owned by a particular Aboriginal community.

Tsilhqot’in granted B.C. title claim in Supreme Court ruling

Tsilhqot’in protest at Taseko Mine’s annual general meeting in Vancouver, June 2010

Top court’s decision today resolves legal questions following 2012 B.C. Court of Appeal ruling

CBC News, June 26, 2014

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted declaration of aboriginal title to more than 1,700 square kilometres of land in British Columbia to the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, the first time the court has made such a ruling regarding aboriginal land.

The unanimous 8-0 decision released Thursday resolves many important legal questions, such as how to determine aboriginal title and whether provincial laws apply to those lands. It will apply wherever there are outstanding land claims.

The decision, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, also has implications for future economic or resource development on First Nations lands.

Taseko mine near Fish Lake rejected by federal government

Fish Lake, targeted by Taseko’s proposed mine.

APTN National News, Feb 27, 2014

The Harper government has again rejected a proposed open-pit gold and copper mine in British Columbia that threatened to destroy a lake sacred to the Tsilhqot’in nation.