"1700 Square Kilometres of Title": Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia

On June 26th, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada made the first declaration of Aboriginal Title to a defined piece of land in Canadian history. After 25 years in the courts, Plaintiff Chief Roger William, his community of Xeni Gwet'in, and the Tŝilhqot’in Nation won 1700 square kilometres of title land and the beginning of an ongoing process of negotiations for title to the rest of the Tŝilhqot’in. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Title win, this panel will look at the distance travelled since the beginning of the case and consider both the long fight for self-determination and some of the prospects for the future of Tŝilhqot’in people and other Indigenous nations in what settlers call "British Columbia" and "Canada."

Photo credit: Institute for the Humanities, Simon Fraser University.

Louise Mandell, K.C. was brought into the area of Aboriginal law when it was in its infancy, working under the direction of the late Grand Chief George Manuel, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. Acting for UBCIC, Louise was legal counsel in their fight against the patriation of the Constitution and was also involved in many of the leading cases concerned with constitutional change, including Guerin, Sparrow, Van der Peet, Delgamuukw, Haida, Bartleman, Saanichton Marina, Morris and Olsen, Osoyoos, and the historic costs order decision in Jules and Wilson. She was intervenor counsel in the Tsilhqot’in case. Louise was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1997 and, in 2001, was awarded the Georges Goyer Q.C. Memorial Award for exceptional contribution to the development of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights jurisprudence across the country. In June 2012 she received an Honourary Doctor of Laws degree from Simon Fraser University and served as the second Chancellor of Vancouver Island University (2014-21).

Val Napoleon is from northeast British Columbia (Treaty 8) and a member of Saulteau First Nation. She is also an adopted member of the Gitanyow (Gitksan) House of Luuxhon, Ganada (Frog) Clan. She is the Director of the Indigenous law degree program at the University of Victoria and the Indigenous Law Research Unit, and holds the Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance. She has been named a Canadian Indigenous Bar Association People’s Counsel—a rare distinction awarded to a First Nations, Inuit, or Metis lawyer for “outstanding achievements in the practice of law"—and was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars in 2017. In 2021 she received a national Indspire Award and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UNBC. Her current research focuses on indigenous legal traditions, indigenous legal theory, indigenous feminism, citizenship, self-determination, and governance.

Grand Chief Stewart Philip, Syilx Nation, is currently serving his ninth consecutive three-year term as President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. Prior to his tenure as President of UBCIC, he served his community as Chief of the Penticton Indian Band for 16 years, in addition to previously serving as an elected Band Councillor for a 10-year period. He also served as Chair of the Okanagan Nation Alliance for 16 years. In October 2006, the Okanagan Nation, led by the Elders of the Penticton Indian Band, bestowed on him and his family the rare title of Grand Chief in acknowledgement of his lifetime commitment to advancing Okanagan Title and Rights and the Title and Rights of all First Nations. Grand Chief Phillip's activism was acknowledged through the BC Reconciliation Award in 2021 and the Eugene Rogers Environmental Award in 2017 (awarded jointly with Joan Phillip) for his decades-long commitment to protecting the lands, waters, and environment. In November 2018, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of British Columbia for his lifelong advocacy.

Chief Roger William, Xeni Gwet'in, has been Chief for 22 years and Councillor for 6 years of the Xeni Gwet'in First Nation Government. He was the lead Plaintiff in the landmark 25-year court action that gained recognition of Tŝilhqot’in Title, Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia. He has also served in the Cariboo Regional District Government for 7 years and has served as the Tŝilhqot’in National Government Vice-Chair. In 2015 he was awarded an Honourary Doctorate of Laws by UNBC for his career work and contribution to Indigenous rights and title. He is a fluent Tŝilhqot’in speaker and lives in Xeni. He has been an active driver of the Dasiqox Tribal Park initiative since it was announced in 2014, and worked as a Team Coordintor from 2018 to 2023. Chief William has also been on the Cariboo Chilcotin Aboriginal Training Employment Board since 1989. See his account of the Title case in Lorraine Weir with Chief Roger William, Lha Yudit’ih We Always Find a Way—Bringing the Tŝilhqot’’in Title Case Home (Talonbooks, 2023).