For Immediate Release: Letter from the Board of the Nine Allied Tribes on the Government of British Columbia’s Proposed K’ómoks and Kitselas First Nations Treaty Bill

Press Release

April 22, 2026

I am Chief Nisawaap of the Gispaxloots Tribe, Lax Kw’alaams British Columbia- also known as Robert Hughes. I speak today on behalf of myself, and of my brothers and sisters of the Nine Allied Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams and the Tsimshian peoples. I also speak on behalf today of those who have preceded us, my parents and theirs, and all of my ancestors who have called our lands their own since time immemorial. And I speak to my children and the children of the generations to come.

This is what I have to say about the proposed treaties and their legislation.

When someone walks into another person’s house uninvited and steals what rightfully belongs to that person, no amount of ritual or pageantry can make that theft legal. Words like honour of the Crown, duty to consult, and reconciliation become cheapened and lose their meaning such that their very utterance invites contempt and disbelief. A ripple of distrust moves through the harmed family and that ripple, if not addressed, will one day become a wave and then a storm.

This government – David Eby’s government – is using an Indigenous group to drive a wedge between Indigenous peoples, and to displace the Nine Allied Tribes that have a legitimate – proved, not provable claim to unceded territories and lands that are recognized by this same government.

They are attempting to make a treaty in their own image to buy certainty for the Crown.

It is the oldest trick in the playbook and every Indigenous heart and mind knows it – divide and conquer, even between the closest sibling Tribes amongst the same people, the Tsimshian. Since the announcement of this trick, we even hear that voices within Mr. Eby’s caucus are uneasy about this betrayal. So are we. We uphold our agreements and policy and we expect the Province to as well.

This unease explains the government’s rush to push this through and have it rubber-stamped by the Legislature. This can not even be called the assertion of Crown sovereignty. This is a return to a dark time in our memories when Popes could give edicts to European explorers and settlers to take our lands and enslave us through the doctrines of discovery and terra nullis.

The David Eby government is acting with bare legality, but with no legitimacy. Doing the bare legal minimum is not reconciliation nor is it being in right relation. It is procedural and it reduces our Tribes to a checkmark. We are more than that.

This is the government that refused to hear the words of its own courts in the Tsilhgot’in, Delgamuukw, and Cowichan decisions – that reconciliation is not a zero-sum game, and that it is achieved through negotiation, and not through unilateral action.

Reconciliation does not mean buying off the Indigenous group that suits your agenda. And it does not mean throwing out your principles and values when they are inconvenient to your goals.

The people of the Nine Allied Tribes are not against development. This is about development behind the closed doors of government without meaningful consultation, and giving it the cloak of legality through acts of the BC Legislature. The Nine Allied Tribes are for development that delivers prosperity and wellbeing to ourselves and our neighbours, provided that it is founded on engaging with our peoples who are guardians of the land and its sovereign and rightful titleholders.

We have come here today to declare that the attempt by the David Eby government to give legitimacy through legality to a backroom deal is null and void, illegal. It is a violation of UNDRIP principles and section 35 of the Constitution Act. But more importantly we name it as a betrayal of trust in Crown Indigenous relations that will set back our relationship by decades to darker times.

There is only one solution to this: a Nation-to-Nation mediation that involves the Crown, overseen by mediators from both sides. This external mediation will serve as a template for resolution of Crown Indigenous relations in dealing with shared lands and resources in a just, equitable manner, where two equal partners sit at the table under the auspices of jointly appointed mediators.

If the government of David Eby continues along this reckless and ill-conceived course of action, we will harness every resource available to us to oppose this and bring it to a halt.

If they engage in a collaborative process, it could prove of immense benefit to all parties concerned and bring what all peoples want for the North Coast – certainty, growth and the prosperity of all peoples. We want a win-win-win for all parties, just not at the expense of the Nine Allied Tribes.

On behalf of the Nine Allied Tribes,

Associated Parties:
Garry Reece, Mayor of Lax Kw’alaams, Txagax – Ginaxangiik
Kelly Sampson, Deputy Mayor of Lax Kwalaams, Lax Laamdzix Gits’iis
Joey Wesley, Elected Councillor of Lax Kw’alaams, Da Gwaas Gwaan – Gitwilgyoots
Ted White, Elected Councillor of Lax Kw’alaams, Tuck Douce – Gitnadoixs
Stan Dennis Jr., Galdamalgyax of Nine Allied Tribes, Gamayaamx – Gitando
Rodney Henry, Luu Dzi Dziiwst – Ginaxangiik
Tammy Dudoward, Laxgyibuu – Gitlaan, matriarch of the House of Niss Laganoos
Vernon Alexcee Sr., Neisgamiik – Giluts’aaw
Stan Dennis Sr., Spinhontx – Gitsaxłaał
Don Wesley, Yahaan – Gitwilgyoots

Media Contact:

Chris Lechkobit Carpenter
Chief Negotiator, Office of the Nine Allied Tribes
chris@lcinsights.ca

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