Canada's Highest Court Recognizes That US Indigenous Communities Can Hold Constitutionally Protected Aboriginal Rights In Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last week that the Lakes Tribe in Washington State have a constitutionally protected Aboriginal right to hunt in a portion of British Columbia.

In this landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Canada was required to interpret the meaning of "the aboriginal peoples of Canada" in s. 35(1) of the Constitution Act,1982 and specifically whether a member of an Aboriginal group outside of Canada, and non-Canadian citizen and resident, could exercise s. 35 Aboriginal rights in Canada. The majority of the Court ruled in favour of the US applicant, holding that Aboriginal groups located outside of Canada may be "Aboriginal peoples of Canada" for the purposes of s. 35(1) provided they are a modern-day successor of an Aboriginal society that occupied what is now Canada at the time of European contact.